06/01/2020 09:00
Luxembourg celebrate historic double triumph at Novotel Cup #32
News from the National Federations
Luxembourg, January 6, 2020. The annual Novotel Cup resumed this year after a short break in 2019 with edition #32 – and the first historic double triumph for the national teams of Luxembourg, as the hosts claimed top honours in the men’s as well as in the women’s competition.
The Novotel Cup #32 featured the national teams of England, Iceland and Scotland, along with Luxembourg, for three days of competition at the iconic d’Coque sports centre in Luxembourg City.
The ‘Red Lionesses’ of Luxembourg had already secured first place even before playing their last match on Sunday with Iceland. Despite under-performing in the second set, they fought back from behind in the third – much to the delight of a large home crowd to secure a 3-1 victory in the end. Luxembourg dropped only one set in three matches as they previously routed England and Scotland 3-0. It accounts for Luxembourg’s third triumph in the annual event following their previous successes in 2004 and 2011. Sunday’s matchup with Iceland included a short ceremony as well, where Nathalie Braas received a small present for reaching 75 caps with the ‘Red Lionesses’.
The ‘Red Lions’ did even better – as they swept three matches in a row without conceding a single set to their opponents, even though they opted for a rather young team compared to previous international competitions, without their superstar Kamil Rychlicki who currently plays in Italy for the reigning European and World champions Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA.
The performance is a good boost of energy for Team Luxembourg ahead of their participation in the 2020 edition of the European Silver League – where they will be playing Greece and Latvia. Luxembourg look further ahead as well, since they are due to contest the qualifiers to EuroVolley 2021 coming up later this summer.
Pictures courtesy of Francis Manderscheid – www.volleyball.lu
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