Luxembourg, April 2, 2017. After months of matches spread across Europe, we know the two teams per gender who will compete for the title of 2017 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup winners. In the men’s competition the French club of CHAUMONT VB 52 will take on Fakel NOVY URENGOY of Russia as these teams secured their place after beating Turkish opposition in the Semi-Finals. While on the women’s side it will be a Greek versus Turkish affair with Olympiacos PIRAEUS taking on BURSA BBSK.
MEN
Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA vs CHAUMONT VB 52
CHAUMONT VB 52 entered this match knowing that after their victory in the first match (3-1) two sets would be enough to secure their place in the Final. The first set did not go to plan and after a close exchange this went to the Turkish side (26-24).
However, within the hour they had wrapped up the next two sets (25-23, 25-15) and the French side could relax in the knowledge their job was done and qualification secured. This is what happened as despite their disappointment Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA pushed on and won the fourth 25-18 and the match decider 15-9 to the joy of their attending spectators.
Galatasaray HDI ISTANBUL vs Fakel NOVY URENGOY
The first round was something of a domination, (75 point to 49 victory for Fakel), but the Turkish side from Istanbul entered this match hoping that with a fresh start and their home crowd behind them they could turn the match around, force the Golden Set and ultimately qualification for the Final.
It simply was not to be as the visiting team of Fakel NOVY URENGOY excelled in attack, giving no chance to their hosts to make any kind of comeback and wiped the floor, meaning they won all six sets played between the two teams.
Despite all efforts that Galatasaray HDI made, the visiting team showed their advantage in both the technical and physical aspects of Volleyball and marched into the Final scheduled for later this month (25-16, 25-19, 25-21).
Click here for further information on the men's competition
WOMEN
BURSA BBSK vs SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN
BURSA BBSK started well safe in the knowledge thattwo sets would be enough. Playing at a fast tempo they won the first set 25-23 and had one foot in the final.
The second set started tense as both teams knew what could be at stake. It was 8-7 at the first technical time-out, but from here the home team extended their lead and ended up winning the second set 25-17 and from that moment knew they would play in the final.
From here, both teams made some changes, with BURSA BBSK in particular choosing to play with some of their younger players and ended up losing the third set 25-18, and the fourth set 25-16.
The fifth set tie-break was close, but the already qualified BURSA BBSK lost out in the end 16-14. Despite that they celebrated being in the final after the match and their focus now turns to the Finals scheduled for later this month.
Yenisei KRASNOYARSK vs Olympiacos PIRAEUS
In what was by far the game of the day in the Challenge Cup, Yenisei KRASNOYARSK came back from the edge of defeat before throwing it all away.
After the glorious victory in Athens, Olympiacos needed to win only two sets to go to the finals, but the Russian team had other ideas and made their oppositions mission almost impossible.
Giving a rocket start with the serves by Irina Kuznetsova, Yenisey easily won the first set. The second one became a smash and a nightmare for the Greek team. A 7-1 lead turned into a 20-4 demolition, but finally merciful the Siberians let Branko Kovacevic's girls earn four more points to make it 25-11. The third set became a real pleasure for the spectators who saw a real thriller with Ekaterina Efimova playing a leading role for the home side (25-23).
A devastated Olympiacos started the “Golden Set” with a lead of 8-3 thanks to great serving by Styliani Christodoulou. Yenisei followed this and brought the deficit back to only two points. It wasn’t enough however as 13-13 became 13-15 after a perfect block by Olympiacos. As the ball hit the floor a stunned home crowd of over 1,000 spectators could not believe the home team had come so close but had to leave empty handed.
Branko Kovačević, head coach of Olympiacos PIRAEUS said: “Firstly, my congratulations to both teams, Yenisei played much better than the previous time. But today we did not play as well as in the previous match in Athens. This year we were very lucky that there is the rule of the "Golden Set" and we were also lucky in this set. I want to thank the teams and the fans from Russia, they supported their team very well! The first three sets we played without any tactics, I think ... Usually we make a few mistakes, but today there were too many of them in the second and third sets.”
Alexander Koshkin, head coach of Yenisei KRASNOYARSK: “I can't complain of the girls today, they fought, they did their best. A "Golden Set" is always a lottery, we made more mistakes and lost as a result. Two stupid errors in the ending, if there were no such mistakes, everything could be different. There were too many emotions. When we won the initial game 3-0, I immediately switched, we started a new game, and in the beginning we failed, then caught up, but the eventual loss is only our own fault.”
Click here for more information on the women's competition