Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, September 10, 2011. Russia’s team captain Taras Khtey officially opened the EuroVolley 2011 this afternoon at the “KV Arena” in Karlovy Vary and his side gradually widened the gap to claim the first set of the match against underdog Estonia with a margin of 8 points.
The second set turned into a real drama with Estonia being able to draw level for four times, with the great contribution of middle blocker Ardo Kreek. After a tie at 19, Russia lived up to its reputation of pre-favorite from this Pool and clipped a mini-break (6:0) to wrap it up in only a few minutes. Estonia played with glowing hearts in set 3 but Russia’s dominance was ocular, in defense as well as at the net.
Estonia’s captain Kert Toobal agreed with his coach Avo Keel and said: “Two years ago in Turkey we got a better score as we lost to Russia, that is true. However, Russia nowadays is playing much better than they did in Turkey. If they go for their best game and play with a good rhythm, they are clearly the favorites of this Championship”.
Russia’s leader Taras Khtey added: “Before this match I had said I basically did not know Estonia’s national team. It was pretty attractive and appealing to open the EuroVolley by playing this side”.
“We have been the pre-favorites for every single European Championship in the past 20 years” added Russian mentor Vladimir Alekno. “We have to cope with this role here as well. We have made quite many technical mistakes this afternoon, especially in the first section of the game. In my opinion this can be attributed to the fact that this was our first match in the tournament”.
The match was preceded by a minute of silence observed to pay tribute to the memory of the ice hockey players – including three Czech nationals – who died this past Wednesday in Yaroslavl, Russia as their plane crashed only a couple of minutes after take-off.