The battles across Europe continues for the FIVB Men’s World Championship 2018 European Qualification on Thursday with 18 matches in six qualification pools.
Pool A in France (Day2)
Azerbaijan vs Germany 0:3 (27-29, 18-25, 18-25)
Iceland vs Turkey 0:3 (18-25, 23-25, 17-25)
France vs Ukraine 3:0 (25-20, 25-8, 25-15)
Home team France, supported by 3,700 fans in attendance, outclassed Ukraine with a compelling 3-0 victory (25-20, 25-8, 25-15). Germany claimed their second consecutive victory in Lyon as they rallied past Azerbaijan 3-0 (29-27, 25-18, 25-18).
Pool B in Netherlands (Day3)
Luxembourg vs Austria 0:3 (24-26, 23-25, 20-25)
Republic of Moldova vs Slovakia 0:3 (9-25, 31-33, 23-25)
Greece vs The Netherlands 0:3 (13-25, 30-32, 16-25)
Three 3-0 matches in Pool B but it doesn’t mean the game is easy!! The home team Netherlands won the decisive second set against Greece in 32-20 while Slovakia also won a difficult set against Moldova in 33-31!!
Pool C in Slovenia (Day2)
Belgium vs Georgia 3:0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-10)
Latvia vs Slovenia 0:3 (14-25, 14-25, 19-25)
Portugal vs Israel 3:1 (25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 25-12)
Belgium and Slovenia extended their winning streak and both claimed a second 3-0 victory. Portugal was also successful, but the Israel team proved to be a tough opponent for them, they took one set from Portugal.
Pool D in Estonia (Day2)
Russia vs Romania 3:0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-21)
Kosovo vs Estonia 0:3 (13-25, 15-25, 7-25)
Montenegro vs Hungary 3:2 (23-25, 25-13, 25-23, 26-28, 15-10)
Russia delivered an impressive performance in the opening match of the day in Tallinn, this resulting in a comprehensive 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-20, 25-21) over Romania. Head coach comments after match: “Romania played really well, especially with their serve. We had to deal with it and I think we were able to do so quite okay. Taking everything into account, I am very satisfied with today’s result,”
Pool E in Croatia (Day2)
Denmark vs Serbia 0:3 (23-25, 32-34, 19-25)
Belarus vs Norway 3:1 (25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 25-22)
Switzerland vs Croatia 3:1 (26-28, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23)
2017 World League winner Serbia keeps their record of second 3-0 victory in Zagreb but this time Denmark cause them some trouble. The start of the match seemed to indicate an easy mission to accomplish for Serbia. However, after the initial nervousness, Denmark responded with Peter Trolle Bonnesen (15 points in the end) and Rasmus Breuning Nielsen (15 points) to take the lead at the second technical time-out of the first set (16-15). Serbia fought back flipping the charts around (20-17) but Denmark closed in at 23-24, before a service mistake from Philip Metin Özari sealed a 25-23 win for the players coached by Nikola Grbic.
Pool F in Czech Republic (Day2)
Finland vs Northern Ireland 3:0 (25-8, 25-8, 25-9)
Czech Republic vs Sweden 3:0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-20)
Cyprus vs Spain 0:3 (17-25, 14-25, 22-25)
Home team Czech Republic opened the tournament with a clear victory over Northern Ireland and the Czechs repeated that same performance also in their matchup with Sweden (25-19, 25-16, 25-20). Michal Finger, the Czech player was satisfied with his team’s performance: “We wanted to play our Volleyball based on good serving combined with perfect defence and I think we were good at it but it could have been even better.”
