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ITALIAN YOUTH GIRLS WIN GOLD AT EUROPEAN YOUTH OLYMPIC FESTIVAL 2005
European Youth Olympic Festival 2005
Luxembourg/San Giorgio di Nogaro, July 10, 2005. After beating the
Dutch team in the semifinal on Thursday the Italian under-18 girls
defeated 2003 European Youth Champion Croatia in a tiebreak final at
the eighth edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival taking place
in San Giorgio di Nogaro (ITA).
Although Italy achieved a head start and took an impressive 2:0 lead in the final against Croatia, the Eastern Europeans didn’t give up desperately seeking their revenge for their 1:3 defeat in the bronze medal match of the European Youth Championship 2005 earlier this year. Whilst Croatia’s feared attacker Hana Cutura (total 14 points) was well controlled by the Italians, her team mate Jelena Alajbeg managed to score increasingly (total 20 points), levelling to 2:2. Italy led by five points in the tiebreak (6-1, 10-5) but a 5:0 run by Croatia (10-10) kept the tiebreak exciting. With the audience giving their home team the needed support the Italians finally decided the tiebreak 15-10 in their favour.
The bronze medal went to the Netherlands after another exciting five set match facing fourth- ranked Poland. Although the Poles with captain and best scorer of the match Sieczka (total 34 points) booked six more points than their rivals (102-96), the Dutch left the court as winners securing the tiebreak 15-12 after almost two hours of play.
Results
|
Thursday, 7th July 2005 |
5th - 8th place |
CZE - BEL |
3:1 |
22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-14 |
|
5th - 8th place |
FRA - SVK |
3:0 |
25-20, 25-23, 25-19 |
|
|
1st semifinal |
CRO - POL |
3:0 |
25-19, 25-23, 25-22 |
|
|
2st semifinal |
ITA - NED |
3:0 |
25-19, 25-11, 25-18 |
|
|
Friday, 8th July 2005 |
7th - 8th place |
SVK - BEL |
0:3 |
19-25, 17-25, 21-25 |
|
5th - 6th place |
FRA - CZE |
1:3 |
25-22, 9-25, 15-25, 15-25 |
|
|
Bronze medal match |
POL - NED |
2:3 |
25-21, 16-25, 25-19, 15-25, 12-15 |
|
|
Final |
CRO - ITA |
2:3 |
18-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 10-15 |
Final Ranking
- Italy
- Croatia
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Czech Republic
- France
- Belgium
- Slovakia
Preliminary Pool A
|
Monday, 4th July 2005 |
CZE - POL |
2:3 |
26-24, 15-25, 25-20, 19-25, 10-15 |
|
ITA - SVK |
3:0 |
25-15, 25-15, 25-13 |
|
|
Tuesday, 5th July 2005 |
CZE - SVK |
3:1 |
19-25, 25-13, 25-11, 25-23 |
|
ITA - POL |
3:1 |
25-19, 26-24, 24-26, 25-16 |
|
|
Wednesday, 6th July 2005 |
POL - SVK |
3:0 |
25-22, 25-19, 25-18 |
|
ITA - CZE |
3:0 |
25-17, 25-19, 25-16 |
Final Ranking Preliminary Pool A
|
1. |
Italy |
6 points |
9:1 |
|
2. |
Poland |
5 points |
7:5 |
|
3. |
Czech Republic |
4 points |
5:7 |
|
4. |
Slovakia |
3 points |
1:9 |
Preliminary Pool B
|
Monday, 4th July 2005 |
CRO - NED |
3:2 |
22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 15-13 |
|
BEL - FRA |
0:3 |
17-25, 23-25, 18-25 |
|
|
Tuesday, 5th July 2005 |
NED - BEL |
3:1 |
25-15, 25-18, 26-28, 25-21 |
|
CRO - FRA |
3:0 |
25-16, 25-17, 25-15 |
|
|
Wednesday, 6th July 2005 |
CRO - BEL |
3:0 |
25-22, 25-18, 25-14 |
|
FRA - NED |
0:3 |
11-25, 12-25, 21-25 |
Final Ranking Preliminary Pool B
|
1. |
Croatia |
6 points |
9:2 |
|
2. |
Netherlands |
5 points |
8:4 |
|
3. |
France |
4 points |
3:6 |
|
4. |
Belgium |
3 points |
1:9 |
 |
 |
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