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Poland vs Finland 3:0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-10)

Presenting the same efficient display that has taken them to clearly lead the charts in Pool A, Poland closed the preliminary pool round of the European Games with yet another victory, a conclusive three-setter triumph over Finland. The unbeaten run of the Polish squad could be maintained due to a high level of competence and minimum number of mistakes that allowed Andrezj Kowal’s men to subdue the laborious attempts from the other side of the net.

Finland aimed at achieving their second victory in the tournament, and tried to beat Poland by working hard in attack and in defence. However, despite the efforts made by the Finns, the skillful performance of the Polish team ended making the differences. Poland’s Artur Szalpuk closed the first period with a powerful action over the net (25-21) setting the course to victory for the Pool A leaders. Although Finland tried to put up a fight in the second period, with Toni Kankaanpää as their main ace, Poland prevented the surprise from occurring with a domination that was ultimately confirmed by Dawid Dryja’s half court spike, thus sealing the set 25-20.

While Finland pursued the extension of the match, the Polish players cut any possibility of their rivals’ reaction with their mistake-free reception (65% of successful receptions) and their consistency in attack (57% percentage of excellent offensive actions). A clever spike by Wojciech Ferens wrapped up the match – and the preliminary round - on a very high note for the Polish squad (25-10, 3:0).



“It was two sets of fight from us and then Poland clearly dominated the third one. I think that Poland served very well and the Polish team were much better than us in the third set, but otherwise it was a good match for us. We managed to play well [during the tournament] but we couldn’t keep up our level. I think that in general it was a good tournament for us. We came with a lot of young players who will continue to improve with this experience,” said the captain of Finland Toni Kankaanpää.

“It was a difficult game for us because it was very early and we had to wake up before 6:00 AM, so we were afraid of what might happen. Also, Finland came without pressure because they had no chances to go to the quarterfinals, so these matches are very difficult. It’s good that we played without mistakes for three sets. Now we start the next stage of the competition and we will see what happens,” said the captain of Poland Pawel Woicki.

France vs Serbia 3:2 (21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-11)

France and Serbia were the next ones to play at Crystal Hall on Monday afternoon as they were vying for their fourth and third victory in the tournament, respectively. France came back strong from two sets down and eventually edged their opponent at the tie-break to confirm their second place in the charts of Pool A.

Serbia came out with all guns blazing and stamped a terrific 6-1 run to set the tone of the game in the opening set. France slowly found their way into the match but still trailed by four at the first technical time-out; Serbia’s setter Mihajlo Mitic combined quality and efficiency in his distribution with team captain Dusan Petkovic continuing the demonstration of power that the audience in Baku has become familiar with (16:13). An ace by Quentin Jouffroy prompted a Serbian time-out as the Balkan team’s lead was reduced down to two points (19:17) and the guys in blue shirts got back on track by pocketing the two rallies that followed the break asked by their mentor Sinisa Reljic. Not surprisingly it was Petkovic to have the final word in the set at 25-21.

The second set did not quite develop in the same way with France stepping up their efforts and keeping the score tight, helped by the excellent work done by their Polynesian-born setter Toafa Takaniko. Serbia continued to rely on their fighting spirit to finally edge ahead at 18:15 and though France’s mentor Marc Francastel stopped the game twice, Petkovic & Co. performed strong and stamped a 7:2 run to bring the set to an end at 25-17.

Though they were with their back against the wall, France continued to fight in set 3 hoping to change the course of the game and they partly succeeded in achieving their goal as they broke away for the first time to claim a narrow lead at 11:9. Serbia did not falter and anchored by their captain and undisputed leader Dusan Petkovic fought back to level the score at 13 all. The players from the Balkan country restored their supremacy in the game once they called for the second mandatory stop at 16:15 but France did not seem to agree with the prospect of a straight-set loss. Les Bleus clawed back to get a two-point margin as the set was approaching its final, deciding stages (22:20, 23:21) before the best rally of the match came to an end with Lazar Koprivica finding a way through the French block. Petkovic tried to score an ace in order to make it 23 all but he served off the bounds, so France got two opportunities to stretch the match to a fourth set and the second was the lucky one as it was cashed on a great back-row attack by Trévor Clévenot (25-23).  

Serbia completely lost control of the game in the fourth set where France imposed their pace from start to end and as the gap grew bigger and bigger, Serbia’s mentor Sinisa Reljic substituted almost his entire starting six knowing that the scenario of a tie-break was turning into reality. And this came true after France comfortably cruised to a 25-18 set win.

Serbia returned to their usual line up for the fifth set and they came out strong before France responded claiming a long and exciting rally to restore the balance at 6 all. As ‘les Bleus’ were cheered on by members of France’s water polo women’s national team that had completed their duties at the European Games on Saturday, they continued their positive streak by moving to the front for the first time at 7:6. The teams fought bravely for every single point and the quality of the actions on display at this stage was definitely of the highest level; France set their sight on the finish line after stamping a block for 12:10 and following an ace by Jonas Aguenier they were only two points away from their fourth victory in the tournament. Their positive series continued all the way through to the final 15-11 for a 3:2 win that cements France’s second place in Pool A behind group leaders Poland.  



Serbia’s captain Dusan Petkovic said: “It was such unlucky match for us. The psychological approach was not that good, in general we played good but in the end we failed from a psychological standpoint. Now we have to think about Germany; they are a strong team, probably the strongest in the tournament but I think that my team is capable of winning that match.”

France’s captain Baptiste Geiler said: “We knew that this match was not really important. We had this in our minds in the beginning and therefore did not play our best. But we came to the conclusion that it is also important to keep on winning. As the match developed we got better and better and wanted to finish in the best possible position in the group. I am happy that we managed to do so.”

Turkey vs Azerbaijan 3:2 (25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 21-24, 20-18)

Turkey and Azerbaijan rounded up the matches of Pool A with Turkey as clear favourites before the first service. Coach Alper Hamurcu’s troops had to fight a way more than expected to meet the expectations and take third position, while Azerbaijan ends the tournament without the taste of victory, but a lot of honour from their final match.

Azerbaijan and Baku have welcomed all of Europe to their country and capital for the inaugural European Games. On the Volleyball court in the match against Turkey, Azerbaijan was also in their hospitable corner as their blocks were permeable and their amount of errors high. Combined with the fact that Turkey with a win would take third position in Pool A and avoid Germany in the quarterfinal jump started the match with a 25-18 set win to Turkey.

Opposite Ufuk Minici had a great evening in Crystal Hall as the opposite again and again found himself airborne and spiking the great set ball by Selcuk Keskin in the Azerbaijani floor. Turkey attacked from every thinkable position, and the home heroes almost needed helmets to stay on the court. Minici had downed 12 points at the end of the second set which Turkey won 25-17.

The Azerbaijani fans had faithfully filled Crystal Hall again to get a last glimpse of their home heroes in action. As Azerbaijan took a 6:3 lead in the third set, cheers and flags swung from one side to the other. So did the score minutes after as Azerbaijan made a catch and sent Turkey in front 11:10. The Azerbaijani team was determined to give their amazing crowd a last cheer and fought bravely, not least with a well spiking Rasul Ibragimov, and got back in the lead at 21:20 ultimately winning the set 25-22.

Turkey was determined to make the fourth set of the match the last so they could have the most possible rest before their quarterfinal on June 24. But Azerbaijan had got a taste of winning a set and wanted more shifting the lead to their side at 17:16. The Azerbaijani side continued levelling up their game and provoked Turkey to make more mistakes. Not a single seat in Crystal Hall had people sitting on it when Azerbaijan won the set 25-21 sending the match into tiebreak.

The match could now tip to either side, and Turkey came out best in the tiebreak, 6:3. Azerbaijan kept the Turks’ tale until 10:9, and Turkey thought they had a match point at 14:10. But the score was converted to 13:11 after a touch challenge falling out to Azerbaijan. Burutay Subasi spiked Turkey on 14:11 with every fiber of his muscles, but another challenge showed a fault on the outside-spiker making the score 13:12 before Azerbaijan made it 13 all. Now the lead shifted side more often than the Azerbaijani flags waving from the stands. Turkey did not convert their first match point and Azerbaijan’s first at 15:14 was taken away from them, as yet another challenge showed a touch giving Turkey their second match point. Azerbaijan had a match point at 16:15, Turkey at 17:16, Azerbaijan at 18:17, before Turkey came out of this excellent drama on top 20-18.

"At the beggining of the match it was very easy for us because our tactical situation was incredible, but the problem is that after the second set, with 2:0, I thought that if I changed players, we could play just as before. But the fact was not like that. After this match, I hope that my team understood that it is important to play toghether, not alone. Now we also understand how we have to play under pressure,” said the coach of Turkey Alper Hamurcu.

“We have been working together with these guys for about five months and this was our fourteenth international match, so these players still lack experience at this level but we are very proud of what we accomplished tonight and in general in this tournament. It’s been a terrific opportunity for this young team, which is some kind of baby child, to grow and to develop. We had our chances tonight and got some match balls, but could not finish it off. I am hoping that this is only the starting point of a much longer journey and that the Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation will continue to support us and the development of this team,” Azerbaijan’s coach Bülent Karslioglu said.

“I am also hoping that these Games will leave a long-lasting legacy and all the children and teenagers who were in attendance and have been cheering us on will be inspired by our performance and will start playing Volleyball. They found their heroes in the players of our team and hopefully they will be willing to emulate them and will help us improve the level and quality of men’s Volleyball in this country,” he said.