Baku, Azerbaijan, June 14, 2015. The journey to become the first champions of the men’s competition of the European Games started this Sunday as the participating teams put their hopes and dreams into play in the outstanding event being held in Baku. The expectations of the debut and the wishes to shine mark the first day of competition in Pool A, and while Turkey signed a triumphant start in the tournament, Finland caused a major upset after beating the local team. One of the longest days in Volleyball history came to an end at 2am with Poland claiming a marathon match with France that lasted for five sets (25-27, 25-20, 25-20, 10-25, 15-10) and was marked by many ups and downs for both teams.
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Serbia vs Turkey 1:3 (15-25, 25-21, 20-25, 18-25)
Turkey won the opening match in Pool A, thus to earn the distinction of becoming one of the first winners in the history of the European Games. Fervour from the stands in support of the Turkish squad gave wings to their players, who acknowledged the cheers and upset Serbia in four sets.
Turkey presented a surprising debut in the competition and astonished Serbia at the onset of the game since the excellent performance of the players directed by Alper Hamurcu allowed the Turkish side to subdue the Serbian intentions in the first set 15-25.
However, after such a demonstration of power, Serbia managed to regroup and started offering alternatives to the Turkish exhibition. The attacks with the signature of captain Dusan Petkovic constituted the perfect representation of the Serbian recovery, consequently granting the men trained by Sinisa Reljic the control of the period, so to put back the equaliser in the match 25-21.
The Azerbaijani fans continued offering their support to the representatives of the neighbouring country, and Turkey responded to the assistance from the stands by recovering the command of the game. Izzet Ünver’s contribution in attack allowed the Turkish side to dominate the third period and to take the lead in the match 20-25.
Despite the Serbian players’ attempts to alter their rivals’ domination, Turkey continued to impose its balance of attack and defence. After a fourth set controlled by the Turkish side, Alper Hamurcu’s men confirmed their authority when a spike by Ibrahim Emet represented the 18-25 and the final 1:3, granting Turkey the credit of its first victory in the tournament.
“Turkey played a very good match; they were very effective in block and defence and my team was a little bit nervous. We made so many mistakes. It is important for our next match to work on the psychological aspects and try to play better,” declared Serbian captain Dusan Petkovic.
“If I have to stress out one point, I am very happy with our defence today. Preparing for the European Games our plan was to find a simple game plan. We cannot match the other teams in size, so we have to serve well and be effective in our blocking. We managed that today, where our sideout also was good. I am very satisfied with the team and our technical staff. All of them proved that we are able to work our way up, if we have been down,” said the coach of Turkey, Alper Hamurcu.
Azerbaijan vs Finland 2:3 (25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 18-25, 13-15)
Finland produced a sensational upset in the men’s competition of the European Games after beating host Azerbaijan 3:2. In the debut of the local team, the Nordic squad came back from a 2:0 in order to force the tie-break and to overcome the enthusiastic fans and the hopeful local players in a heart-breaking fifth set.
The Crystal Hall arena in Baku turned into an Azerbaijani celebration when the organising team stepped into the court. Flag waving, chants and cheers escorted the local heroes in their debut in the competition in front of an enthusiastic host crowd that yearned another victory of the local representatives, just as the women squad did the previous day. The actions finished by Farid Jalalov and Rasul Ibragimov put Azerbaijan in route to victory after a disputed first set 25-22. The host team maintained the streak of efficiency by means of its purposeful performance in attack to continue leading the match in the second period 25-21.
While the local fans continued their celebration due to the team’s momentary success, the Finnish side took the opportunity to produce a sensational reaction in the following sets. The visiting team used in its favour fleeting qualms and certain restlessness from the local players, so to bring doubts to the game 18-25, a situation that was evidently reinforced when the 18-25 appeared in the scoreboard in the fourth period.
In the tie-breaker, equality persisted and each rally went to a different side of the net. Finland was able to take a slight advantage through its efficiency in attack (11-13). Azerbaijan fought to recover, and saved one match ball, but the definitive spike by Karl Kulaots represented the 13-15 that shattered the local dreams of victory in the match and put Finland on the route to glory in the pool.
“We were a little bit impatient at the beginning; we made a lot of mistakes, as this was an important match for us and the first international match for a lot of the guys here; we slowly started playing better and better, we believed that we could win,” declared the coach of Finland, Lauri Hakala. “The fifth set was always close, only a couple of points of difference and it was hard-fought for both teams. The better team won, but it could have gone either way,” he added.
”Of course it is sad that we lost, but I only have positive thoughts in my mind after this match. We have a very young team of players who proved themselves as men today. We made a lot of mistakes during the match, and in the end that helped Finland to win. It has made a huge impression on me playing here at the Crystal Hall arena, at home. Everything has been so well organised and the support from the fans is printed in my mind. Now we will do our best to correct our mistakes, so we can win the next matches,” said Aleksey Chervyakov, captain of Azerbaijan.
Poland vs. France 3:2 (25-27, 25-20, 25-20, 10-25, 15-10)
A long opening day of the men’s tournament at the Baku 2015 European Games came to a close with the match starring another two Volleyball powerhouses, with reigning world champions Poland playing France though both teams had not travelled to Baku with their best rosters. The guys in white and red shirts were off to a very good start but France bounced back after the first technical time-out to start dictating the tempo of the game. The ‘Bleus’ had a margin of two points at the second mandatory stop before Poland got back on track and made it 21 all. A time-out asked by the French coach did not help as Poland scored the next couple of rallies as well but France finally responded with three consecutive points to get the first set ball at 24:23. Poland survived to this challenge and to another one but the third opportunity proved to be the lucky one for the ‘Bleus’ that cashed the opening set at the extra-time (27-25).
Playing after midnight was certainly quite an unusual situation for all the players on court at the Crystal Hall but France seemed to be quite up to the task continuing to perform well also in the early stages of the second set. However, as the set progressed, Poland’s machine started to work better and better, the guys around Andrzej Kowal got the decisive break after the second technical time-out and they brought the set to an end holding on to their edge (25-20).
A bunch of Polish fans and some of the local volunteers – known as Flamekeepers – had stayed to follow this match through to the end and they got to enjoy a close fight also in the third set. A long and spectacular rally – with excellent defence from both sides – epitomising that close fight was eventually won by Poland that moved the score up to 23:19 and seemed to be well on route to their second set win, a goal they achieved on a service error by Frenchman Jhon Wendt (25-20).
On Saturday night the last match on schedule for the opening day of the women’s tournament had finished at 01:40 am but Poland and France looked likely to break this record since the fourth stanza of their clash started at 01:20 with France claiming an early 7:3 lead. At this stage the possibility of a tie-break wasn’t to be ruled out and it became reality after a very one-sided fourth set where France got a margin of 11 points at 20:9 before finishing it off with a massive 25-10.
After such complete black-out, Poland bounced back in the fifth set (5:2) but the Frenchmen clawed back to get the narrowest edge at the side switch. One of the longest days in Volleyball history – the first match had started at 9 am – finally came to an end at 02:05 am with Poland celebrating their first victory in the tournament.