After fix days matches of the European Qualifier in pool A to F, six European teams booked their ticket to next year’s FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Japan – Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Italy, Azerbaijan and Germany.
They did so by completing a clean sweep of the matches they contested in their respective pools and living up to the status of pre-favourites for a ticket to Japan. The runners-up from the sixth second-round European qualifiers – Greece, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belgium, The Netherlands and Slovenia – will have one last opportunity to book their trip to Japan via the third and last stage of the qualification process scheduled for August 22-27. The eventual winners and runners-up of that single round robin tournament will complete the European contingent for next year’s Worlds.
Pool A- Russia
Russia kept their perfect record in the competition with a 3-1 victory over hosts Croatia (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-15) on the last day of the qualifier. This is their first international tournament in 2017, led by experienced head coach Vladimir Kuzyutkin. Kuzyutkin led Russia team to win the gold medal of 2010 World Championships. After seven years, he came back to national team and he targets on the European Championships later this year.
Pool B- Serbia
The silver medalist of 2016 Rio Olympic showed their overwhelming force among pool B and win with a prefect record against Slovakia, Poland and Czech Republic. Their scoring machine, opposite spiker Tijana Boskovic showed irresistible power with her spike, block and serves.
Pool C- Turkey
Turkey completed a clean sweep of their matches at Hristo Botev sports hall in Sofia – and they did so in emphatic style as they beat Montenegro 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-19) to secure their qualification to next year’s World Championship in Japan.
Their Italian head coach, Giovanni Guidetti expressed that he can relax after a tough week. “It was a tough job to do. This result is very important for us. Now we can just focus on the European Championship. This is the best beginning of the season we could have asked for.” said Giovanni.
Pool D- Italy
Italy overpowered Belgium in three sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-23) to qualify to next year’s World Championship in Japan. Head coach of Italy, Davide Mazzanti included many young talented players in his composition, such as Cristina Chirchella, Egonu Paola Ogechi and Sylla Miriam Fatime, together with experienced players such as the Bosetti sisters, which is one of the key points for their success.
Pool E- Azerbaijan
Host team Azerbaijan is considered as the black horse of the tournament, maybe most of the volleyball fans would expect The Netherlands will be the pool winner, but the performance of Azerbaijan amazed all the audiences. With 3,000 fans in attendance at the Sports Games Palace in Baku, Azerbaijan rallied to a 3-0 (30-28, 25-22, 25-13) victory over The Netherlands in the ‘grand finale’ of the tournament to secure their ticket to next year’s World Championship. The home team delivered a perfect game with a very solid attack and some amazing defence actions.
As their leaders Natalya Mammadova and Polina Rahimova struggled to find their rhythm, the Netherlands claimed an early 10-6 lead in the first set and extended it to 15-7 with their rock-solid defence. However, at this stage the home team woke up and changed the course of the game – with massive blocks from Rahimova and Aynur Karimova as well as with the help of their rising star Yelyzaveta Samadova (30-28). Azerbaijan rushed to a 15-13 lead in the second set and with Mammadova, Rahimova and Samadova on fire, they took the important points to double their lead in the match (25-22). Azerbaijan dominated the third set (25-13) with Rahimova finishing the game with an impressive personal tally of 28 points.
Pool F- Germany
Germany completed a clean sweep of their matches in the pool but were made work hard before sealing a 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17) victory over France to book their ticket to next year’s World Championship in Japan. The match was a close affair from the beginning before Germany stepped up their efforts in the second set, thus doubling their lead in the match. France put up a fight and they were rewarded for this by taking the third set before the fourth was fairly one-sided and Germany finished the tournament with a perfect record of five wins in as many matches.
Source and Photos: CEV
