Kranj to hold Slovenia’s most high-profile Beach Volleyball competition of the year
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The Slovenian city of Kranj will hold a MEVZA Championship Tour international tournament from July 26 to 29. This will be the most high-profile Beach Volleyball competition in Slovenia this year, and the best players from across Central Europe will come together to compete there. These include Slovenian national champions Nejc Zemljak and Klemen Šen, and among the impressive list of international competitors, there are even some who have contested the Olympic Games.
After more than 20 years spent organising the national championship in Beach Volleyball, Kranj is moving a step up - a MEVZA Championship Tour international tournament will be held in the centre of the city. The Zavarovalnica Sava Kranj Open 2023 will feature teams from Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Israel, and Slovenia.
Slovenia will be represented by the men’s teams Nejc Zemljak/Klemen Šen, Tadej Boženk/Vid Jakopin, Danijel Pokeršnik/David Renko, Aljoša Novak/Primož Zemljič, and the women’s team Spela Morgan/Anja Maček.
“I am genuinely surprised by the quantity and quality of registered teams, because in fact, apart from one Austrian team, all the best teams from countries under the MEVZA umbrella have applied. This will account for the best Beach Volleyball we have ever seen in Kranj. At the same time, the famous Kranfest festival, which takes place on the same weekend, will take care of the crowd of visitors, so I think we have the perfect recipe for a real volleyball spectacle in the city centre. Kranj deserves such an event,” commented tournament director Sašo Rop.
Reigning Slovenian national champion Nejc Zemljak confirmed Rop’s impressions: “I was extremely surprised by the rank of the registered teams. We are talking about players who play in the Pro Tour Future Series, the Challenger Series, and even the Olympics! I think it is great that Kranj will host the MEVZA tournament. This will be a great event for the city, and I will be happy to return to the Kranj beach court in front of its fantastic audience. It is difficult to predict the result because there will be quite a few strong and equal teams. However, we know that all teams are beatable, and we are going for the win.”
His teammate and young outside hitter of ACH Volley LJUBLJANA, Klemen Šen, added: “Every match will be difficult, but Nejc and I are still aiming for medals. For now, we are each preparing separately, because Nejc is training and playing in Germany over the winter, and before the Kranj tournament, we will practice some more together.” Last year, Klemen famously helped put out a fire in the Karst region of Slovenia one day before the national championship in Kranj. “I am still a volunteer firefighter, but I hope that this summer will be calmer and the only uniform I will wear before the MEVZA tournament in Kranj will be a volleyball uniform,” concluded Šen.
Špela Morgan, winner of several medals at the Slovenian national championships, together with Anja Maček will form the only domestic women’s team: “Our main priority for the season is the Zavarovalnica Sava Kranj Open 2023, as it is the strongest international tournament in Slovenia. We look forward to testing ourselves against such teams. We know a few of them - at the European University Championship, for example, we met the top seed of the Kranj tournament, the Czech duo Miroslava Dunarova/Daniela Resova, and lost, but at that time Anja and I did not have many training sessions or matches together. It will be interesting to see how we fare this time. It is important for us to play well, to make as few mistakes as possible, and the result will follow. A lot will also depend on the draw.”
Veteran and holder of the most national championship titles, Danijel Pokeršnik, has teamed up with David Renko to participate in the Zavarovalnica Sava Kranj Open 2023:
“The main goals of the season include the national championship, followed by the biggest international tournament this year in Kranj. In the latter, we will be playing against pairs competing in the Challenger and Future Series tournaments, so every match will be tight. I hope that David and I will be well synchronised and fight to the last point. I still feel good myself, despite my age. I hope for a great spectacle and that as many people as possible will come to support the Slovenian teams.”
The tournament will take place in the natural amphitheatre of the Stara Sava parking lot. On Wednesday, July 26, the qualifiers will be contested, where four teams per gender will win a place in the Main Draw, while 12 teams per category will qualify directly according to points and country. A total of 16 ranked teams per category will compete against each other in four groups of four teams on Thursday, July 27. The winning team in each group will qualify directly for Friday’s quarterfinals, while the second- and third-placed teams will play each other in an additional match to reach the top 8. On the last day of the competition, Saturday, July 29, the semis and medal matches will be held.
Tickets for the Zavarovalnica Sava Kranj Open 2023 are available at Eventim.
Live streams, scores, and schedules will be available at https://mevza-kranj.com/.