Kocaeli, Turkey, April 4, 2015. The opening day of the 2015 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship - Men in Kocaeli was marked by the speedy victory claimed by Russia over Serbia before Poland and Italy fought for five sets in a closely contested match with ended up with the Poles eventually prevailing at the tie-break. France rounded out the programme with a 3:0 win over rookies Denmark to set the tone for another round of exciting matches coming up on Sunday.
You will also be able to follow the Championship on Facebook and Twitter, with the official hashtag to be used for all of your posts and tweets being #EuroVolleyU19M.
All starting times are local (CEST+1).
Russia vs. Serbia 3:0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-23)
As the preliminary pool round of the 2015 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Men has begun, the opening match for Pool I in Kocaeli started off with an outstanding performance from Russia by winning 3:0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-23) against Serbia. It was a game the former champion totally dominated in all aspects for a never endangered win. Russian captain Petr Golovin contributed 18 points and was the best scorer of the match, followed by his teammate Ivan Polianskii with 12 points on the scoreboard.
Russian coach Mikhail Nikolaev: “We know our strengths and I’m very pleased with the result as this was the very first match and despite that the team played very good.”
Serbian mentor Milan Djuricic: “I want to firstly congratulate the Russian team, they were a very good opponent. After today’s match, the boys will be focusing on the next ones and will be much more prepared for victories.”
Poland vs. Italy 3:2 (25-27, 26-24, 19-25, 25-17, 15-7)
The Polish and Italian side clashed in the search for the first victory and it was a thrilling match as the sets were very close. The first chapter ended with Italy having the upper hand at 27-25. In the second set, the action continued as both sides fought against each other to take control of the game, again it ended close in the tiebreak between Poland and Italy. The two squads presented an exceptional level of performance in the second match of the day in Kocaeli, as the two contenders raced and competed to gain their first victory in the tournament. Italy dominated the third set Italy gaining a 25- 19 win while the Polish player Jakub Ziobrowski got a yellow card at the end. The Polish side started off really well in the fourth set and continued its dominance throughout the set, winning it at 25-17. During the very last set of game, Poland won the set dominating over Italy to close it at 15-7. Jakub Ziobrowski wearing shirt number 9 for the Polish team became the best scorer in the game recording a whopping 33 points.
Sebastian Pawlik, coach of Poland: “It was a very difficult game as the boys were nervous and we didn’t play well too, but we are still happy to the win our first game in the tournament.”
Jakub Kochanowski, captain of Poland: “It was a nervous game and Italy played very well. We made a lot of errors and we will work to fix those for the next game.”
Mario Barbiero, coach of Italy: “We played a good match today, however the last sets there was high tension. We hope to play a better game tomorrow.”
Gianluca Galassi, captain of Italy: “We played a good match today and are still confident to make a comeback in this tournament.”
France vs. Denmark 3:0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-17)
Both teams started out very nervous trying to take control of the first set however the clash ended with France dominating by 25-16 against Denmark with the French captain Joachim Panou scoring six points against in this set. The hopeful Danish players tried to stand the physical superiority of their rivals in the remainder of the game, but France produced a powerful display in attack and block, thus preventing the team of Denmark from overpowering them in the second set (25-19). The Danish side started off well in the 3rd set following the French squad behind closely but towards mid set, the French dominated and finished it off with a 25-17 win. Best scorer of the game was captain Joachim Panou from the French side who contributed 14 points to his team's victory.
Thomas Bertelsen, coach of Denmark: “Firstly I would like to congratulate France. We had a good plan but this is the European Championship and if you don’t go by the plan this is the result you will get. There have been a lot of positive things that we need to apply to the future games and when we are playing against a team like France and if we aren’t blocking and defending very well that’s when we will get into trouble. We are also here to learn to play the highest level of Volleyball so I look forward to the next match.”
Oscar Mollgaard, captain of Denmark: “I didn’t try my best and a lot of our plans fell apart and when a team like France plays extremely well this is the result you will get but I look forward to the upcoming matches.”
Olivier Audabram, coach of France: “It was good to start the first match off with a victory and we are in a good rhythm as we have expected and we will continue this way.”
Joachim Panou, captain of France: “We are very happy to win this match and it’s very good for us to start off the competition with a win and we are preparing for the next match for another win.”
Click here for further information on Final Round of the 2015 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Men