17/06/2019 10:00
Semi-final pairings set for Golden European League Final Four tournaments
CEV Volleyball European Golden League 2019
Luxembourg, June 17, 2019. After completion of the League Round this past weekend, the 2019 edition of the CEV Volleyball European Golden League moves on to the next – and most exciting – stage, with the Final Four tournaments due to take place on June 21-22 in Tallinn and Varaždin for men and women, respectively. The top teams from the League Round now know whom they will be playing next following the Drawing of Lots held on Monday morning at the CEV headquarters in Luxembourg. The 2019 edition of the European League provides participating teams with a total purse of 1.2 million € across the Golden and Silver divisions – with the winners of the Golden League Finals travelling home later this week with a check worth € 125,000.
The programme of the men’s semis at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn reads as follows:
June 21
16:00 The Netherlands vs. Belarus
19:00 Turkey vs. Estonia
The bronze and gold medal matches will follow on Saturday, June 22, starting at 16:00 and 19:00 local time as well. The winners and runners-up of the Golden League will qualify for the FIVB Challenger Cup due to take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia in early July – whose eventual winner will secure participation in the 2020 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Estonia will be trying to use the home-court advantage to secure their third European League crown after those they seized in 2016 and 2018. However, right in the semis, the hosts of the Final Four will be playing Turkey, the only team to finish the League Round with an immaculate record of six wins in as many matches. The Netherlands will be playing Belarus in the first semi; the ‘Lange Mannen’ in orange shirts are chasing their second European League title after standing on top of the podium back in 2012.
As for the women’s semis, the pairings read as follows:
June 21
16:00 Czech Republic vs. Belarus
19:00 Croatia vs. Spain
As with the men, the bronze and gold medal matches will follow on Saturday, June 22, starting at 16:00 and 19:00 local time. The winners and runners-up of the Golden League will qualify for the FIVB Challenger Cup due to take place in Lima, Peru next week. The eventual winners of the Challenger Cup will secure participation in the 2020 edition of the elite FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
Czech Republic are the only one of the four teams competing in Varaždin to boast a European League title on their resume – which they won in 2012 on home soil in Karlovy Vary. In the semis, the Czechs play Belarus – the only team sporting a perfect record of six wins from their six matches in the League Round. As for hosts Croatia, they play Spain in the second semi-final, with the Spaniards having qualified for the Final Four as the best runners-up across all pools.
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