Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The three time European champion, Dutch Reinder Nummerdor and his partner Christian Varenhorst significantly shone in Baku.

This is the first major international Beach Volleyball competition organized in the vibrant capital of Azerbaijan and a perfect rehearsal for the Beach Volleyball Center for the next year's European Games.

The duet won the Baku Masters - fifth and last stop of this year's CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - to claim the first title of their still young partnership.

By gaining the first place at the tournament, Nummerdor and Varenhorst also took a spot for their country in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship that the Netherlands will be hosting next year.

France's Youssef Krou and Edouard Rowlandson ranked 2nd, while Turkey's Murat Giginoglu and Volkan Gogtepe ended up the games in 3rd place.

In the women's competition, Germany's Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude defeated their rivals Laura Ludwig/ Anni Schumacher in the final match and claimed the title of the Baku Masters.

CEV President Andre Meyer is paying a visit to Baku as part of the Baku Masters.

Meyer attended a press conference together with CEV Vice President Jan Hronek where the Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation was represented by 1st Vice President Faig Garayev and by Secretary General Elshan Ismayilov.

"I am delighted to be here," Meyer said, "and I would like to thank the organizers of the Baku Masters, the Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation and the local media for their warm welcome and outstanding hospitality. Though I have just arrived here, I can sense that the ambiance is very good and everything is running according to plan."

"The Baku Masters is an excellent chance for Azerbaijan to test its organizational skills ahead of the European Games, an event which is taking much of our attention at the moment since - together with the local Organizing Committee and the European Olympic Committees - our Volleyball family is fully committed to make a huge success out of this inaugural edition," he concluded.