HOME TEAMS FAVORITE IN FINAL FOUR

Austrian Airlines TTC men & TTC women

LUXEMBOURG, 10 March 2004 – The European Cup Competition continues this weekend with the Final Four of both the Austrian Airlines Men’s and Women’s Top Teams Cup. The final of the men’s event will be held in Innsbruck, Austria, while the women’s Final Four tournament will be played in Bursa, Turkey.

The Top Teams Cup is the European Cups Competition in which the champions and cup winners of all 54 European national volleyball federations are allowed to participate, except the teams playing in the Indesit European Champions’ League.

The Austrian Airlines Men’s Top Teams Cup will get a new winner, as defending champion Piet Zoomers APELDOORN from Netherlands was already eliminated in the first round of the main phase. Tir. Wasserkraft INNSBRUCK from Austria is the slight favorite. Michael WEISS, PR & Marketing Responsible of the club said: ‘Now that INNSBRUCK has beaten the Austrian supremacy of AON VIENNA hotVolleys winning the Austrian Cup for the first time ever in the club’s history in a nerve-wracking match of 5 sets, we are more than motivated to also add a European cup to this year’s record of success.’

In the Final Four of the Women’s Top Teams Cup, Turkish Gunes Vakifbank ISTANBUL is the favorite. The Turkish top spiker Neslihan DEMIR is one of the stars of the team and she definitely wants to win the trophy, especially because the Final Four will take place in Bursa, Turkey. ‘The people in Bursa are absolutely volleyball-mad, especially after the big success of the women’s European Championships in 2003’, said Serhat GURSOY, spokesman of Gunes Vakifbank ISTANBUL. ‘We are sure that a lot of people will come to see the matches. Our team is the last remaining Turkish team in the competition and already during yesterday’s training session more than 500 spectators came to cheer on the players’, he added.

Belgian Eburon TONGEREN, the team that finished third last year, is the opponent of Gunes Vakifbank ISTANBUL in Saturday’s semifinal. The other semifinal is an all German clash, when ULM Aliud Pharma meets USC Munster. It will be hard to pick a winner in this match as both teams are co-leading the German league at the moment.

Schedule Austrian Airlines Men’s Top Teams Cup Final Four: Innsbruck, Austria.
(all times are CET)

Saturday 13 March 2004
Semifinals:
1630 Tir.Wasserkraft INNSBRUCK (AUT) – Deltacons TULCEA (ROM).
1900 Lokomotiv KHARKIV (UKR) – CASTELO DA MAIA GC (POR)

Sunday 14 March 2004
1300 Classification 3/4
1530 FINAL

Schedule Women’s Top Teams Cup Final Four: Bursa, Turkey.
(all times are local: CET +1)

Saturday 13 March 2004
Semifinals:
1330 ULM Aliud Pharma (GER) – USC MUNSTER (GER)
1600 Gunes Vakifbank ISTANBUL (TUR) – Eburon TONGEREN (BEL)

Sunday 14 March 2004
1330 Classification 3/4
1600 FINAL

More on the net at www.cev.lu

Enjoy & Be There:
6-7 March 2004: Women’s CEV Cup Final Four, Treviglio, Italy.
13-14 March 2004: Women’s Top Teams Cup Final Four, Bursa, Turkey.
13-14 March 2004: Men’s Austrian Airlines Top Teams Cup Final Four, Innsbruck, Austria.
20-21 March 2004: Women’s Indesit European Champions’ League Final, Tenerife, Spain.
27-28 March 2004: Men’s Indesit European Champions’ League Final, Belgorod, Russia.
3-11 September 2004: Women’s Under 19 European Championship, Bardejov, Presov, Slovakia
4-12 September 2004: Men’s Under 20 European Championship, Zagreb, Croatia