02/04/2016 22:30
#EuroVolleyU20M – Italy and France book tickets to Bulgaria
2016 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship - Men
Luxembourg, April 2, 2016. As the second-round qualifiers organised in Napoli and Steinbrunn came to an end on Saturday, Italy and France recorded a third straight win to secure their progression to the Final Round of the 2016 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship – Men and join hosts Bulgaria in the tournament that will be taking place in the cities of Plovdiv and Varna from September 2 to 10. All remaining tournaments, i.e. another five, taking place this week will continue through to Sunday as Europe’s Volleyball stars in the making are testing their skills and proudly representing their country in an effort to make it to the final stage of their age group’s premier competition.
Pool A in Rovinj (CRO)
Israel vs. Romania 0-3 (7-25, 15-25, 21-25)
Romania cemented their second place in the Pool and even though they still have to wait for the result of the matchup starring Russia and Croatia coming up on Sunday, they practically made it sure they will make it through to the third stage of the qualifying process scheduled for early July. Romania made use of all of the players on their roster but this did not prevent them from stamping a terrific 25-7 win in the opening set of their match with Israel. The Israelis put on a better fight in the second set but still they were no real match for a solid Romanian side. Israel stepped up their efforts in set 3 and this turned into a fairly close affair before Romania had the upper hand to deservedly claim a commanding 3-0 win.
Romania coach Ovidiu Macarie: “We are happy because we have substantially secured our progression to the next round of qualifications. Unfortunately we did not have enough friendly matches in our preparation phase and you could see we lacked playing time. We have to be better prepared for the third round but I am confident that in the end we will be securing our qualification for the Finals.”
Israel coach Sagi Baram: “We knew coming here that all participating teams were better than us and this applies especially to Russia and Romania. Our goal was to stay alive and put on a fight in each match we have contested, fighting for every point. Unfortunately we lack experience in order to make this wish come true. I think we must now turn the focus onto our U19 national team and try to prepare them in the best way to possibly qualify for the Final Round of the 2017 European Championship of this age group.”
Pool B in Napoli (ITA)
Sweden vs. Portugal 2-3 (25-22, 18-25, 19-25, 25-18, 12-15)
Portugal and Sweden had lost their respective matches with Italy and Spain and so this matchup was going to determine who would leave Napoli with at least one victory and settle for third place in the final standing of the pool. Portugal eventually had the upper hand at the tie-break after a match that lasted for more than 100 minutes. Jacob Link and Bruno Cunha top scored in the end with 26 and 23 points to pace the efforts of Sweden and Portugal, respectively. The stats show it was a really close match with Portugal making the difference with their better success rate in reception (61% vs. 41% for Sweden).
Portugal coach Hugo Silva: “It was not easy today for us, but my team showed their determination; this victory could be the beginning of a positive course for us. I’m very happy today”.
Sweden coach Göran Persson: “We made too many mistakes tonight, and with a victory our tournament could have been different, but that’s it! We have to keep on working.”
Spain vs. Italy 0-3 (19-25, 18-25, 21-25)
Italy extended their winning streak in the competition by sweeping Spain aside in three sets and as a result the home guys secured their qualification for the Final Round of this year’s European Championship. The audience in attendance got to see some classy actions and was provided with an exciting match where the superiority of the ‘Azzurrini’ was not to be questioned in any way. Italy middle blockers Gianluca Galassi and Gabriele Di Martino played a leading role both in attack and at blocking as well, kind of playing down the ambitions of their opponent. Italy finished the tournament held at Pala Vesuvio with a perfect record of three wins in as many matches and a 9-0 immaculate win-loss set record.
Italy coach Michele Totire said: “The Italian team always plays to win, and that’s what we did. Tonight our players delivered a great performance. We are not yet there where we would like to be, and that’s why we are working hard to get well prepared for the final phase taking place in Bulgaria next September.”
Pool C in Tokat (TUR)
Turkey vs. The Netherlands 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-10, 25-21)
To open the programme of the second competition day in Tokat, the home town of Turkey’s Volleyball star Emre Batur, hosts Turkey played The Netherlands. The Oranjes seemed to be a little nervous at the beginning of the match since following their setback in the matchup with the Czech Republic on Friday they knew this was probably their last chance to stay alive in the competition. The first set was a close race where both sides seemed to struggle to display the right consistency in their defence play. Though Turkey could rely on the attacks killed by their team captain Muzaffer Yönet, the Netherlands responded with libero Stefan ten Voorde delivering a very good performance which paved the way towards a 25-20 victory for the visitors. Supported by their fans, Turkey imposed their tempo in the second set which they eventually won 25-22. The third set was some kind of a nightmare for the Oranjes and it ended with a massive 25-10 win for the hosts as Turkey’s star Adis Lagumdzija shone out throughout the entire period. The fourth set, on the other hand, was a personal show by Oğulcan Yatgin who steered Turkey to a 25-20 win to seal their 3-1 victory in the match.
Turkey’s star player Oğulcan Yatgin: “We did not start in the best way and it seems that we are repeating the same mistake in every match we contest in this tournament. We do not seem to have luck on our side but we fought back very well after a rocky start. This match was some kind of a semi-final for us and we were up to the task. Now we will face the Czech Republic in the final. We are very determined and confident ahead of this match.”
Dutch team captain Twan Wiltenburg: “We are really sorry about this loss. We caught a good start to the match but after that we made too many easy mistakes and this is something we shouldn’t do. We will try to finish the tournament in the best way by claiming at least our last match with Latvia.”
Latvia vs. Czech Republic 1-3 (25-21, 13-25, 19-25, 22-25)
In the second match of the day in Tokat, the Czech Republic played Latvia. The Czechs were confronted with a difficult start to the match as the Latvians were powered by Zigurds Adamovics’s serves and Kristaps Smits further supported his team with a solid performance in reception. Latvia set the pace of the game from start to finish and eventually claimed the opening set 25-21. The Czechs responded leading the way in the second set (8-6) with Donovan Dzavoronok and Matej Smidl being their most impressive players. After the first technical time-out, Smidl continued to pressure the Latvian receivers and recorded a bunch of aces, thus paving the way for a dominant 25-13 win by the Czechs. Smidl and team captain Kristian Cervinka set the tone in set 3 and 4 and as a result the Czechs could celebrate a 3-1 win to get the right to challenge Turkey for first place in the pool on the final competition day in Tokat.
Czech Republic team captain Kristian Cervinka: “At first we made a lot of mistakes at serving and blocking. However, in the second set we changed everything. We did never think or fear that we would be losing this match. It was a great win. We are excited now to go for the last match against Turkey.”
Latvia coach Vjaceslavs Grimailovs: “We started the first set really good but we made easy mistakes in the remaining sets. I think this was due to a lack of concentration. The Czech Republic is a really good team and we couldn’t find a way to stop their attacks.”
Pool D in Frankfurt (GER)
Denmark vs. Germany 1-3 (20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 26-28)
The hosts of Germany made a quick start to the match by means of their strong serving (6-1). German outside spiker Egor Bogachev showed a great performance, successfully finishing 83% of his attempts in attack (this resulting in seven points). Germany used their advantage in attack (65% to 54%) and defence (59% to 38%) and closed the first set at 25-20. The second and third sets were a roller coaster as Denmark had the upper hand in the second chapter, followed by a German comeback in the third one. The spectators got to see a real thriller in the end of the fourth set where the German players survived to five set balls for their opponent coming back from 20-24 and 24-25 to turn the score around and finish it all off 28-26. As a result of this victory, Germany secured their spot at least in the third round of qualifications and has even the chance to take the ticket to #EuroVolleyU20M with a victory in the last game against Poland. Best scorer of this match was Denmark team captain Oscar Møllgaard with 23 points, Egor Bogachev was the most prolific player (19) for Team Germany.
Germany coach Johan Verstappen: “I am happy that we won the match in four sets. Both teams performed at a very high level and delivered a great performance. I think that Denmark’s outside spiker played one of his best matches to really trouble our defence, but I have to make a compliment to my team. They should enjoy the two victories they have claimed so far. I just want to say about the game against Poland: we will start from 0:0 and there are six players on each side of the court.”
Germany setter Stefan Thiel: “I am happy that we got this victory in four sets. It was a nice game and the Danish team really showed some great defence. I had my first appearance here, but I just wanted to help my teammates and that worked well. Our goal was to take another three points to be in the best possible position before our matchup with Poland tomorrow.”
Denmark coach Thomas Skifter Bertelsen: “Of course I am disappointed, because we had so many chances to win the fourth set. Germany worked itself up into a real frenzy and that decided the game. Now it is our goal to win the last game against Hungary to go home with at least one victory.”
Poland vs. Hungary 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-23)
Poland made it the fast way and needed just 74 minutes to beat Hungary in three sets. The big difference between these teams was in reception. The Polish players got 58% of their opponent’s attacks, whilst that same figure stands at 34% for Hungary. So it was no surprise that the first two sets went quite easily Poland’s way. Hungary seemed to be able to change the course of the match as they set the pace in the third set up to 21-19, but Poland stepped up the level of their performance more and more to turn the score around and finish it all off at 25-23. Tomasz Fornal left his mark on this victory with 18 points; Ákos Kalmar scored nine for Hungary in their losing effort.
Poland coach Sebastian Pawlik: “I expected that we would win this match, but tomorrow we will have the most important one against Germany. Apart from us, they are the strongest team in here and this will be the most difficult match of the tournament. We have to serve well and do well n reception as well in order to beat them.”
Hungary coach Péter Zarka: “My players gave everything they had to beat the reigning European and world champions and fought for every point. I think we had a chance to win the third set but Poland is a team that can change the course of the game at any time. I hope that we can win our last match with Denmark tomorrow and leave the competition with a victory.”
Pool E in Steinbrunn (AUT)
Norway vs. Slovakia 0-3 (16-25, 17-25, 17-25)
On the final day of competition in Steinbrunn, Slovakia secured their second place in the standing of Pool E with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17) win against Norway and as a result the team will move on to the next qualifying round scheduled for early July.
Slovakia coach Ivan Hiadlovsky: “I am obviously happy that we made it to the next round. But I still have mixed feelings after we lost in straight sets to France.”
Norway coach Nebojsa Duric: “We were mentally tired after our loss to France. The Slovakians also have a strong side, but generally speaking I am satisfied with our performances here in Steinbrunn. The victory against Austria was surprising. We will continue to work hard to improve our game.”
France vs. Austria 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 34-32, 25-19)
In the final match of Pool E in Steinbrunn France clinched their ticket to the Final Round of the European Championship with a 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 34-32, 25-19) win against a tough Austrian side, with Les Bleus dropping their first set in the competition.
Austria coach Roland Schwab: “We put on a sensational performance against this tremendously strong team. France will definitely be among the favourites for a medal in Bulgaria. My boys showed a great attitude. The French, on the other hand, had some problems to break our rhythm.”
France coach Jocelyn Trillon: “Congratulations to the Austrian guys. Helped by a lot of supporters in the stands, they fought until the end. We are happy that we won the match.”
France captain Joachim Panou: “We came here to win the tournament and book the ticket to Bulgaria. I’m very proud of my team. We knew that winning a set in the last match against Austria would be enough to secure our qualification. In the end the match turned into a great fight.”
Pool F in Nova Gorica (SLO)
Finland vs. Ukraine 0-3 (17-25, 27-29, 19-25)
After losing to Slovenia on the opening day of the tournament in Nova Gorica, Ukraine performed their best right from the early stages of their matchup with Finland, this resulting in a seven-point lead. Ukraine was able to hold on to this advantage and closed the opening set out 25-17. The second set was a much tighter affair and closely fought through to the end before Ukraine scored two in a row to make it 29-27. Ukraine controlled the match with relative ease in the third set as the Finns paved their way with gold by making mistake after mistake.
Ukraine middle blocker Heorhii Klepko said: “This was our game. Oleg Plotnytskyi is the best server in our team and he did a great job today. I am just happy that we showed a much better performance than we did yesterday.”
Finland coach Pertti Honkanen: “The second set was really close and usually we play really well in this kind of situations. However, this time we played very bad when we got an easy ball. I think this was the turning point of the match. I am not too upset because I know how difficult it is to regroup after losing a set so disappointingly. I accept the result and acknowledge that Ukraine played a very good match against us. They also knew that if they had lost this game, they would have been out of the competition, so they played with a lot more energy and intensity.”
Belgium vs. Slovenia 0-3 (17-25, 16-25, 17-25)
The home guys of Slovenia delivered a superb performance to claim their second straight victory on home soil. Actually the start of the match was really close but after the second technical time-out Slovenia scored five straight points and could capitalise on this advantage to finish the set off 25-17. In the second set Slovenia set the pace from start to finish and even though they made some service errors, they showed a great game in defence and with superb attacks they were in full control of proceedings. The team of Belgium showed some really nice actions at the net but it wasn’t enough. Today was the day of Slovenia’s rising stars that were simply better than their opponents.
Samo Miklavc, the head coach of Slovenia was extremely satisfied with his players: “I am satisfied with the way my players approached this match. They followed my instructions and executed the game plan close to perfection. We knew what to expect in the game against the Belgians, we knew their qualities and I think we kind of prevented them from displaying their best assets. Today the entire team did its job and showed a really good performance. Tonight we will prepare for Finland as tomorrow we have another important match. Apart from the two victories we have, we also have home soil advantage and the fans on our side, so the guys can relax and play the best they can.”
Belgium outside spiker Thomas Konings: “We started off playing pretty good but suddenly Slovenia claimed a four-point lead and they could keep it until the end of the set. After that we kind of started doubting about our chances whilst they played a really good match. We were just not good enough to stand a chance. They are a good team and today they deserved to win.”
Pool G in Vrnjačka Banja (SRB)
Greece vs. Belarus 2-3 (25-20, 25-13, 20-25, 15-25, 11-15)
Belarus claimed their first win in Pool G, leaving Greece very little chances to progress to the next round of qualification for this year’s European Championship. Similarly to what happened on Thursday in their first match of the tournament with Estonia, Greece claimed set 1 and 2, but they couldn’t do more. The tie-break was a close race up to 7 all, but after that Belarus stamped some great blocks and grabbed a well-deserved come-from-behind win.
Kiryl Kapylou, captain of Belarus national team, was the best in his team: “We had a very difficult game yesterday, we finished late and we didn’t have much time to rest and everybody could see that in the first two sets. In the end, we won, because we showed our real value.”
Uladzimir Maisiyevich, head coach of Belarus: “At first we didn’t have any stability in reception, but as the match progressed we improved our serve and that resulted in our eventual victory.”
Greece player Froixos Kotsakis said this match was a difficult one: “Again, we lost 3-2 after leading 2-0. In the first and second sets we played well, but then we kind of stopped. It looks like we are missing something to win matches.”
Click here for video interviews with Team Greece and here for video interviews with Team Belarus
Estonia vs. Serbia 0-3 (11-25, 20-25, 17-25)
It was an easy win for Serbia before a full house in Vrnjačka Banja. The fearless Estonian team put on a real fight only in the second set, but with a lot of service errors they couldn’t have the upper hand in the end. The score remained close up to 15-all but the Serbian team made best use of their time-outs to eventually seal a 3-0 win.
Home star Vukasin Durdevic hopes that the Serbian team can win on Sunday as well: “Today’s game went very well and it ended with a good result for us. We served well and had some great blocks so they couldn’t manage to score that many points. Tomorrow we are playing for a spot in the Final Round of the European Championship, so I hope everything will be just fine.”
Estonia coach Oliver Lüütsepp: “It was a very hard match for us. We couldn’t win the second set where we did not take our chance and after that our morale went down. Serbia is a very good team and we have to be better if we want to win this kind of matches. The level of our performance today was not that good.”
Home hero Boris Buša said his team was more confident than in their previous matchup with Belarus: “Yesterday it was hard for us, but today it wasn’t the same. After this match we are thinking about tomorrow because we can have a tough game with Greece. I think we’ll have to win if we want to go to the European Championship.”
Click here for video interviews with Team Serbia and here for video interviews with Team Estonia
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