Like father, like son - meet Pavel Tetyukhin

In the roster of the Russia national team at EuroVolley, fans can notice a very familiar name Tetyukhin! It immediately recalls the Volleyball legend and Olympic champion from London 2012 - Sergey Tetyukhin, who himself is also present at EuroVolley, but in Tuomas Sammelvuo's squad, his 20-year-old son Pavel enjoys his rookie campaign in Europe's prime competition, getting ready for a quarterfinal battle against Poland which will be held on Tuesday in Gdansk.

A talent handed down from father to son. Pavel Tetyukhin followed in his father's footsteps and got bitten by a Volleyball bug in Belgorod, observing his father's games with Belogorie. The young outside hitter currently plays at the same club and in 2017 he even had an opportunity to play together with his father in the starting six!

EuroVolley 2021 is the first experience with the senior national team at a major event for Pavel Tetyukhin. "I played at junior level with the national team, but being a member of the senior national team is something totally new for me - it's a top level, big venues, it's a completely different level of everything. It's a huge honour to play in the national team. It's my first time. To play in the national team was my biggest dream when I was a child."

His famous father Sergey is also present at EuroVolley, but as a member of the team. Pavel stresses that it doesn't put additional pressure on him, as he used to train and play under watchful eyes of his father and grandfather. "The fact that my father is here helps me. My first coach was my grandfather, so he looked after me when I started my career, then my father was watching me when I played in Belgorod and now he is in the national team. For me, there is no pressure, it only helps. He observes my progression and it's okay for me, I'm calm because my father is watching me."

Pavel, like his father, plays in the national team with number 8 on his jersey. "I didn't choose it, but it has a special meaning for me. If the national team offered me a different number I would play with another number. But it's obviously a great honour to play with the same number as my dad." There is no surprise that his father was not only his inspiration, but also an idol, however he is not the only one. "In Volleyball, since my childhood, my father was my idol - also as a person. I watched him when he played and I spent a lot of time. But my idol in general is Michael Jordan, I was following his career and he was also my first athlete - an idol, someone who I don't know personally."

Pavel has many hobbies, playing chess, reading books, playing computer games and listening music, but he also used to write music - more precisely to make beats on his computer. "I enjoy many things off the court," he says. But talking about his dreams he has one goal. 

Now, he and his team have a chance to qualify to the EuroVolley final four, but to do it they have to beat the host Poland in quarterfinal on Tuesday. "When the playoffs start you cannot think about two or three games ahead of you. You have to be fully focused only on the next game, because the next game might be your last one. That's why we don't think about semifinals or finals, we think only about Poland and quarterfinals. Poland plays at home and they are maybe three times better team at home with fans. And the venue will be full so we are focused on this game. We will do our best."