10 days to go to #EuroVolleyU19M!

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Győr, Hungary, April 12, 2017. The 2017 edition of the CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Men organised commonly by Hungary and Slovakia begins in 10 days. To mark this milestone, a press conference was held on Wednesday in Győr, where some of the pool matches as well as all of the semis and classification matches will take place at Széchenyi István University’s sports hall.

“Győr is the capital of sports,” said Dr Tivadar Somogyi, the Deputy Mayor of Győr while addressing the media. “As a matter of fact, there are only a few country towns in Hungary, which would host as many sporting events as Győr does. To prepare for the European Youth Olympic Festival, we recently hosted a cycling competition and this will be followed by judo and track and field events. Volleyball players are recurrent guests in our city. Obviously, an event like the U19 European Championship receives much attention from the city and can be a perfect test event for the next ones to come.”

Eszter Szombati-Serfőző, the chairperson of the Department of Culture and Sports, assured that everyone is working hard to provide high-standard conditions for the European Championship. Besides this, she also highlighted the excellent cooperation with the Hungarian Volleyball Federation and that the players will be able to enjoy their time in Győr. After some successfully organised events such as the U19 women’s European Championship from last summer and the age-group MEVZA Championships from last December, Győr has become Hungary’s Volleyball capital.
“Our team left the city as the winners of the MEVZA Championship in December, so we are hoping for a medal this time too,” said Zsolt Ludvig, the Secretary General of the Hungarian Volleyball Federation. “Yes, we love being here in Győr and we believe that Volleyball will provide an extra boost to this city. Everyone who will visit the tournament from next Friday will be able to witness a spectacular sporting event featuring the best Volleyball players in Europe in this age group.”

Ludvig also said that this tournament is not just about the medals at stake for the U19 European Championship, since qualification is at stake both for this year’s U19 World Championship and for the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF).

Although Hungary are in a very difficult pool, Tibor Tomanóczy, the home team’s head coach, does not mind about it. “It is an honour to play against such teams. Our approach is to score points, win sets and games. The event is a perfect preparation for the EYOF and to the European Championship‘s qualifying matches for next year.”

Dániel Flachner, a player of the Hungarian national team, who has been living in Győr from a very young age and currently plays in Komarno, Slovakia trusts in teamwork. “If we join forces with my teammates, we can work just fine as we proved it at the MEVZA Championship in December. Our big goal is to finish among the top eight of the competition.”