Denmark claim double gold at the NEVZA U19 Championships

November 15, 2011 » News , U19 Boys , U19 Girls

Denmark claimed doubled gold at the 2011 NEVZA U19 Championships held in Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands 10-12 November.

Girls’ competition:

The Danish girls secured their gold medal with an emphatic 3-0 win over the hosts from the Faroe Islands in the final. Only in the third set did the Faroese team put up any real resistance by taking a 17-15 lead. However, the Danes fought back and won the set 25-22.

Denmark had won all of their matches in the preliminary phase, but had met strong resistance from both Norway and the Faroe Islands. Norway were two sets up, but Denmark came back strong to claim a 3-2 win with 15-10 in the tie-break. Also the Faroes had pushed Denmark all the way in the preliminaries and led 21-18 in both of the first sets, but couldn’t hold their nerves when it mattered and lost the match 3-1.

As Norway and the Faroe Islands had both beaten Iceland, it would be the winner of their head-to-head match on Friday evening that would decide who would qualify for the final against Denmark. Norway romped to a 2-0 lead, but the Faroes won the next two sets to take the match to a tie-break. After 14-14, the lead changed hands several times until the Faroe Islands finally prevailed with a 21-19 win to seal their place in their first ever NEVZA final.

But as mentioned above, Denmark deservedly clinched the title with a comfortable 3-0 win in the final.

Norway seemed to suffer from aftershocks when they met Iceland in the match for the bronze medal, because although Norway had beaten the Icelandic girls 3-1 in the preliminary phase, it was Iceland who won the bronze medals with a 3-1 win.

All of the results from the 2011 NEVZA U19 Championships for girls:

Thursday 10 Nov. Iceland-Norway 1-3 (19-25, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25)
Thursday 10 Nov. Denmark-Norway 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-10)
Thursday 10 Nov. Iceland-Faroe Islands 0-3 (14-25, 20-25, 16-25)

Friday 11 Nov.  Denmark-Faroe Islands 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-17)
Friday 11 Nov.  Iceland-Denmark 1-3 (14-25, 21-25, 25-23, 20-25)
Friday 11 Nov.  Norway-Faroe Islands 2-3 (25-18, 25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 19-21)

Satuday 12 Nov. 3rd place: Norway-Iceland 1-3 (22-25, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25)
Satuday 12 Nov. Final: Denmark-Faroe Islands 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22)

Final standing:

1. Denmark

2. Faroe Islands

3. Iceland

4. Norway

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Boys’ competition:

Denmark also captured the boys’ title after a comfortable 3-0 win in the final over Norway who couldn’t provide the same resistance as they did in the preliminary stage where Norway had taken a 2-0 lead before Denmark staged the comeback to win 3-2.

The bronze medal match was an encounter between the Faroe Islands and Iceland which the Faroes won 3-1 to claim their first ever medal in the NEVZA competition in the boys’ division.

All of the results from the 2011 NEVZA U19 Championships for boys:

Thursday 10 Nov. Iceland-Norway 0-3 (12-25, 10-25, 13-25)
Thursday 10 Nov. Denmark-Norway 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-22, 15-11)
Thursday 10 Nov. Iceland-Faroe Islands 0-3 (24-26, 18-25, 10-25)

Friday 11 Nov. Denmark-Faroe Islands 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17)
Friday 11 Nov. Iceland-Denmark 0-3 (15-25, 13-25, 11-25)
Friday 11 Nov. Norway-Faroe Islands 3-0 (25-14,    25-20, 25-19)

Satuday 12 Nov. 3rd place: Iceland-Faroes 1-3 (15-25, 25-19, 22-25, 16-25)
Satuday 12 Nov.    Final: Denmark-Norway 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-23)

Final Standing:

1. Denmark

2. Norway

3. Faroe Islands

4. Iceland

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After the competition, an All Star team was selected:

Girls:
Best setter: Eina Kalsø (FER)
Best spiker: Trine Noer Kjelstrup (DEN)
Best blocker: Oda Ulveseth (NOR)
Best libero: Susanna Salanto (NOR)
Most Valuable Player: Trine Noer Kjelstrup (DEN)

Boys:
Best setter: Mikkel Møller Andersen (DEN)
Best spiker: Andreas Takvam (NOR)
Besti blocker: Sigurd Neltoft Varming (DEN)
Besti libero: Michael Alfredsen (NOR)
Most Valuable Player: Sigurd Neltoft Varming (DEN)