Turkish snow volleyball team eyeing Euro title

By Sercan Kucuksahin

KAYSERI, Turkey (AA) - The Turkish women's snow volleyball team is aiming to win the 2021 CEV European Tour in Austria this month.

The Austrian ski resort of Wagrain will host the European Tour on Feb. 19-21 and 26-28.

Turkish team coach Sakip Karali told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that Turkey played the final in their first European Tour in 2017 and then made podium in 17 national and international tournaments.

"Our national team players have been playing beach volley for years. We have many experienced players. We made use of our experience for the snow volleyball. That's why we had degrees and were a successful team in every tournament that we joined. I hope we will have more achievements," Karali said.

He stated that snow volleyball is not very popular in Turkey.

"We first found it odd too, but we were very happy as long as we had successes. This branch will be nominated for the Winter Olympics in future. So I recommend snow volleyball to young athletes."

He said that many European countries have shown interest in the sport.

Karali emphasized the importance of the European Tour and said that he believes Turkey will win the title.

"... We have tough opponents [in Austria] but we are in the first position in the standings. So we will be seeded in this tournament. We seem to be the favorite team of the organization. I believe we will win it," he said, adding that the Turkish team completed its preparation and is ready for the European Tour.

Turkey, Italy, Austria and Lithuania will compete in the tournament with one team each. Meanwhile, Czech Republic and Hungary have two teams each in Wagrain.

The European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) is organizing the tour.

The prize money for the 2021 Snow Volleyball European Tour is €3,000 or $3,625 per gender, according to their website.