02/04/2016 11:01
NOVY URENGOY want to celebrate club’s twentieth anniversary with second European title
2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Men
Novy Urengoy, Russia, April 2, 2016. In about 24 hours Russia’s Fakel NOVY URENGOY and Italy’s Calzedonia VERONA will be locking horns again in the second and decisive round of the 2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Men finals. After losing at the tie-break to European Cup rookies VERONA last Wednesday, the players of Fakel NOVY URENGOY will be vying for a 3-0 or 3-1 home win in order to avoid the always risky golden set. Though they have to come from behind after their setback in Italy, the players of Fakel are confident they can repeat what their predecessors did nine years ago when they claimed the title of the CEV Volleyball Cup, the first ever such accolade for a Russian team.
The tickets for the final are sold-out and the organisers expect 1,000 people will be in attendance for the match taking place at Gazodobytchik arena. The match will start at 3pm CET and will be streamed live and for free on LAOLA1.tv.
A bunch of young Russian guys, inter alia the rising stars of Fakel NOVY URENGOY Ivan Iakovlev, Egor Kliuka, Dmitrii Volkov and Ilia Vlasov, plus their experienced captain and setter Igor Kolodinskiy and opposite Igor Tiurin came back from two sets down in Italy but ended up losing the tie-break that followed. They were off to a fairly slow start as hosts VERONA were pushed by more than 4,000 passionate fans but the Russians quickly recovered to win set 3 and 4. The first matchup in Verona was a real showdown, worthy of a European Cup final. However, everything will be decided in Novy Urengoy, where Fakel will be able to count on the support of their fans.
“A victory would be a wonderful gift for the city, the club and the sponsors since this year we are celebrating the twentieth anniversary since Fakel Volleyball club was established,” said before the match the coach of NOVY URENGOY, Igor Chutchev.
“We expect a tough match, where we will have to fight for every point, but we also expect a full house packed with fans who will be supporting us and give us extra strength. I am hoping they will be as noisy and passionate as the Italian fans we got to see in Verona. It would be like having a seventh player on court. We will try to do our best. The result of the first match reserves approximately equal chances for both teams. Yes, it’s true – the Italians may have the better chances but we will fight until the end,” Chutchev concluded.
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