Greeks ready to return to #EuroBeachVolley
Athens, Greece, July 8, 2019. Three years have passed since the last time Greece participated at the #EuroBeachVolley. It was in 2016 when Vasiliki Arvaniti and Panagiota Karagkouni were in Switzerland and took the 17th place and it was only the second time the team made an appearance at Europe's top Beach Volleyball competition after previously doing so 2013 in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Vasiliki Arvaniti, the two-time European champion (2005, 2007) and three-time Olympian announced in 2016 that she would temporarily suspend her Beach Volleyball activities and devote herself to her family. Five months after the birth of her son in September 2018, Arvaniti returned to the sand with a big goal in her mind: to play in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with Karagkouni.
The Greek team have been reunited for eight months now and during this time they trained hard with their new head coach, Brazil’s Tie Santana, and managed to win two gold medals in the FIVB World Tour and a spot in the Continental Cup second round. This was enough for Arvaniti and Karagkouni to secure a spot at the #EuroBeachVolley 2019 in Moscow, 5-11 August.
“To participate at the #EuroBeachVolley was one of our goals starting the season. The funny thing is that we learned that we will participate in the tournament during the first phase of the Continental Cup - Pool D in Schinias, so we did not have time to celebrate,” said Vasiliki Arvaniti and continued: “With Panagiota Karagkouni is our third EuroBeachVolley as a duo. A lot has changed since 2016 in Biel/Bienne, but the motivation to succeed is the same and even higher.”
“The last two years, I didn't have the chance to play at a high level and I was a little bit disappointed. Thankfully, Vasiliki decided to return to Beach Volleyball and asked me if I wanted to be her teammate again. My motivation is extremely high and I really want to succeed in Moscow. Every team participating plays at a really high level and we need to work hard, so when the time comes, we will be ready to face the best teams in Europe,” said Panagiota Karagkouni.
Vasiliki Arvaniti, the two-time European champion (2005, 2007) and three-time Olympian announced in 2016 that she would temporarily suspend her Beach Volleyball activities and devote herself to her family. Five months after the birth of her son in September 2018, Arvaniti returned to the sand with a big goal in her mind: to play in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with Karagkouni.
The Greek team have been reunited for eight months now and during this time they trained hard with their new head coach, Brazil’s Tie Santana, and managed to win two gold medals in the FIVB World Tour and a spot in the Continental Cup second round. This was enough for Arvaniti and Karagkouni to secure a spot at the #EuroBeachVolley 2019 in Moscow, 5-11 August.
“To participate at the #EuroBeachVolley was one of our goals starting the season. The funny thing is that we learned that we will participate in the tournament during the first phase of the Continental Cup - Pool D in Schinias, so we did not have time to celebrate,” said Vasiliki Arvaniti and continued: “With Panagiota Karagkouni is our third EuroBeachVolley as a duo. A lot has changed since 2016 in Biel/Bienne, but the motivation to succeed is the same and even higher.”
“The last two years, I didn't have the chance to play at a high level and I was a little bit disappointed. Thankfully, Vasiliki decided to return to Beach Volleyball and asked me if I wanted to be her teammate again. My motivation is extremely high and I really want to succeed in Moscow. Every team participating plays at a really high level and we need to work hard, so when the time comes, we will be ready to face the best teams in Europe,” said Panagiota Karagkouni.
