))
RUSSIA SECURES FIRST PLACE
Men's Indesit European Championship 2005
Rome, Italy, September 8, 2005.
Although the Final Four teams in the Men’s Indesit European
Championship 2005 have already been decided on Wednesday with one more
Preliminary Pool round left to play in Rome (ITA), i.e. Serbia &
Montenegro and Spain from Preliminary Pool II in Belgrade (SCG) and
Russia and Italy from Preliminary Pool I in Rome (ITA), the six teams
from Preliminary Pool I in Rome (ITA) competed for the final rankings,
deciding who will finish first respectively second, thus meeting Spain,
respectively Serbia & Montenegro in the semifinals. Further, the
three first ranked teams from each pool are automatically qualified for
the Men’s Senior European Championship 2007.
However, given that Russia will be hosting the Men’s Senior European Championship 2007, the next best fourth ranked team from the Preliminary Pools also automatically qualified, namely France. Hence, the seven teams qualified for the Men’s Senior European Championship 2007 are host Russia, Italy, Serbia & Montenegro, Spain, Greece, Poland and France.
Poland secured their third position in Preliminary Pool I in Rome
(ITA) after beating Portugal in straight sets in their final pool
round. Whilst the team coached by Raul Lozano, which finished fifth in
the 2003 Men’s European Championship in Berlin 2003, experienced slight
problems during the first set, the never dropped the lead (8-7, 16-15)
advancing 1:0 (25-23). The second set was less problematic and Poland
found their rhythm, whilst the Portuguese on the other hand committed
increasing errors, a result of tiredness and lack of motivation. Taking
the second set 25-18 the Poles faced little resistance by their
opponents in the third set, comfortably finishing their Preliminary
Pool play with a 3:0 victory.
Best scorer of the match was Polish Mariusz Wlazly with 15 points,
followed by his team mate Sebastian Swiderski (14 points) and Hugo
Gaspar who scored 13 points for the Portuguese team.
“Although we played a good first set we didn’t manage to gain the
points in the decisive moments”, stated Portugal’s team captain Joao
Jose, “In the second and third set we simply lost concentration.”
Portugal’s head coach Orlando Samuels explained their defeat due to
lack of concentration and motivation, as his team had no reason to aim
for a victory. Poland’s team captain Piotr Gruszka on the other hand
was content to have qualified for the coming Men’s European
Championship as third ranked, stating: “We only lost two matches in all
and these were against strong teams. We hope to get further in the
rankings next time.” Raul Lozano was satisfied with the performance of
his team who played well in attack as well as block and had the digs
under control.
Three times 25-21 was the
score that Croatia seized victory over the Ukraine, finally finishing
fourth in their first participation of the Men’s Indesit European
Championship. “Although we were nervous we played an excellent match”,
stated team captain Igor Omrcen after the match, “I’m very satisfied
and happy for having won.” The Croatian head coach Radovan Malevic was
similarly content, expressing that this victory is a great moment for
Croatian volleyball: “I would like to thank all members of staff as
well as the team who played with all their heart in this competition.
We really wanted this match.” Ukraine head coach Viktor Mykhalchuk drew
a realistic picture. Being a little disillusioned for having lost all
five matches, he learnt a lot about his team during this competition
knowing what aspects of the game to work on.Best scorer of the match was Tomislav Coskovic scoring 22 points followed by Croatian number five Igor Omrcen (19 points). Andriy Sydorenko was the best scorer for the Ukraine with a total 11 points.
At 20.30 began the showdown between Italy (current Pool I leader)
and Russia, deciding on who will finish Pool I as first respectively
second ranked team. Although Italy started the match much more
concentrated, taking the first set 25-22, Russia committed fewer
mistakes during the following three sets appearing a lot more
consequent. A total 11’300 passed the entry gates in order to support
their team against Russia, however, the Russians remained calm and
collected, keeping the upper hand during the decisive moments of the
match. Semen Poltavsky (25 points), Pavel Abramov (15 points) as well
as Alexei Kazakov (11 points) were unstoppable. Still, Italy kept on
fighting, but were mostly unlucky when it came to the important points.
Whilst they were less successful in attack during the third set (22-25)
presenting Russia with a 2:1 lead, the fourth set was only a matter of
a few points. Mainly Semen Poltavsky scored at the end of the set,
serving two aces to advance 22-19. Not letting go of their winning
lead, the Russians profited from a serving mistake by Michal Lasko on
their first match point (25-22), securing the 3:1 victory and first
position in Pool I, thus meeting Spain who finished second in Pool II
in Belgrade in the first semifinal on Saturday at 18.00 hrs in Rome.
Best scorer on Italian side was Alessandro Fei with 22 points.
There will be no competition on Friday, the day of the CEV 26th
General Assembly, which will take place in Rome (ITA). Several
important people, including the CEV Board of Administration, the
Executive Members as well as the presidents of the affiliated national
federations, have been invited to attend this event. The CEV will
present the various activities of the previous sports season, outline
the development of European volleyball and give an overview of future
possibilities. A first evaluation of the legislative period 2001-2005
by the Board of Administration and the work of the Commissions will
follow, before the statutory election for CEV President, the Board of
Administration Members as well as the nomination of Commissions’
Presidents will take place.
Final Preliminary Pool Results
Preliminary Pool I in
Rome (ITA)
|
03.09.2005 |
15.30 |
POL - CRO |
3:0 |
25-22, 25-19, 25-21 |
|
03.09.2005 |
18.00 |
ITA - POR |
3:0 |
25-19, 25-21, 25-20 |
|
03.09.2005 |
20.30 |
UKR - RUS |
0:3 |
22-25, 23-25, 21-25 |
|
04.09.2005 |
15.30 |
POR - CRO |
2:3 |
23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 7-15 |
|
04.09.2005 |
18.00 |
ITA - UKR |
3:0 |
25-17, 25-23, 25-23 |
|
04.09.2005 |
20.30 |
RUS - POL |
3:1 |
25-27, 29-27, 29-27, 25-21 |
|
05.09.2005 |
15.30 |
UKR - POR |
2:3 |
20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 13-15 |
|
05.09.2005 |
18.00 |
POL - ITA |
0:3 |
24-26, 22-25, 19-25 |
|
05.09.2005 |
20.30 |
CRO - RUS |
2:3 |
25-21, 18-25, 20-25, 25-21, 11-15 |
|
07.09.2005 |
15.30 |
UKR - POL |
1:3 |
18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 21-25 |
|
07.09.2005 |
18.00 |
POR - RUS |
1:3 |
25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 18-25 |
|
07.09.2005 |
20.30 |
ITA - CRO |
3:1 |
20-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-19 |
|
08.09.2005 |
15.30 |
POL - POR |
3:0 |
25-23, 25-18, 25-16 |
|
08.09.2005 |
18.00 |
CRO - UKR |
3:0 |
25-21, 25-21, 25-21 |
|
08.09.2005 |
21.00 |
RUS - ITA |
3:1 |
22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-22 |
Final Pool I Ranking
1. Russia 10 (15:5), 2. Italy 9 (13:4), 3. Poland 8 (10:7), 4. Croatia 7 (9:11), 5. Portugal 5 (8:14), 6. Ukraine 5 (3:15)
Preliminary Pool II in Belgrade (SCG)
|
02.09.2005 |
15.30 |
GRE - NED |
3:2 |
25-20, 15-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-11 |
|
02.09.2005 |
17.30 |
FRA - CZE |
3:0 |
25-23, 25-22, 25-20 |
|
02.09.2005 |
20.30 |
ESP - SCG |
0:3 |
22-25, 17-25, 15-25 |
|
03.09.2005 |
15.30 |
NED - FRA |
1:3 |
17-25, 22-25, 25-16, 20-25 |
|
03.09.2005 |
18.00 |
ESP - GRE |
3:1 |
25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 25-20 |
|
03.09.2005 |
20.30 |
SCG - CZE |
3:1 |
20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 |
|
04.09.2005 |
15.30 |
FRA - ESP |
2:3 |
30-28, 25-16, 23-25, 31-33, 9-15 |
|
04.09.2005 |
18.00 |
CZE - NED |
3:0 |
25-18, 25-22, 26-24 |
|
04.09.2005 |
20.30 |
GRE - SCG |
0:3 |
20-25, 15-25, 27-29 |
|
06.09.2005 |
15.30 |
ESP - CZE |
2:3 |
17-25, 25-22, 25-17, 14-25, 11-15 |
|
06.09.2005 |
18.00 |
SCG - NED |
3:0 |
25-20, 25-18, 25-19 |
|
06.09.2005 |
20.30 |
GRE - FRA |
3:2 |
25-22, 26-28, 20-25, 28-26, 15-12 |
|
07.09.2005 |
15.30 |
NED - ESP |
1:3 |
25-21, 20-25, 21-25, 18-25 |
|
07.09.2005 |
18.00 |
CZE - GRE |
1:3 |
32-30, 22-25, 19-25, 16-25 |
|
07.09.2005 |
20.30 |
FRA - SCG |
2:3 |
16-25, 25-20, 25-23, 19-25, 9-15 |
Final Pool II Ranking
1. Serbia Montenegro 10 (15:3), 2. Spain 8 (11:10), 3. Greece 8 (10:11), 4. France 7 (12:10), 5. Czech Republic 7 (8:11), 6. Netherlands 5 (4:15)
Final Four in Rome (ITA)
|
10.09.2005 |
18.00 |
Semifinal 1 |
RUS - ESP |
|
10.09.2005 |
21.00 |
Semifinal 2 |
SCG - ITA |
|
11.09.2005 |
17.30 |
Classification match 3-4 |
|
|
11.09.2005 |
21.00 |
Final |
For further information such as match statistics, match pictures, more detailed match information, etc. please view www.cev.lu, www.eurovolley2005.com, www.eurovolleyroma2005.it, www.osscg.org.yu/eurovolley2005.
More on the web at www.cev.lu
Enjoy & Be There:
02-11 September 2005: Men’s Senior European Championships 2005, Rome (ITA) and Belgrade (SCG).
16-25 September 2005: Women’s Senior European Championships 2005, Pula and Zagreb, Croatia.
 |
 |
 |