#GoldenEuropeanLeague: Summary of Day 4

Pool A

Turkey – Slovakia 3-0 (25:15, 25:11, 25:17)
With this victory, Turkey, which played in front of about 6,000 fans Merkez Sport Hall in Malatya, have a perfect record of four wins in as many matches. Cagatay Durmaz of Turkey was the best scorer of the match, scoring 12 points.

Nedim Özbey, head coach of Turkey: “It was very nice to win 3-0. We are still unbeaten in the CEV European Golden League. With this victory, we are very close to reaching the Final Four. I would like to congratulate all players and the staff and also to thank our fans who have supported us today in Malatya.”

Cagatay Durmaz, player of Turkey and top scorer of the match: “I am happy with the victory. I congratulate my teammates. We played again in front of a great audience. Many thanks to all fans because we played such a great game also because of their help. After this match, I think we can say that we need one point more to qualify for the Final Four.”

Belgium – Latvia 1-3 (25:16, 21:25, 22:25, 23:25)
After a great first set, Belgium without its captain Igor Grobelny sufferes a defeat against Latvia, that recorded their second victory in the competition to cement second place in the pool behind Turkey. Belgium is in fourth and last place. Atvars Ozolins was the top scorer on the winning side, while Lou Kindt scored 22 points for Belgium.

Brecht Van Kerckhove, head coach of Belgium: “I am definitely seeing progress in my young team. I thought it was time to score a second victory but unfortunately, we failed. That is a pity. Congrats to Latvia, strong in the middle, thanks to the passing from a super setter like Deniss Petrovs.”

Avo Keel, head coach of Latvia: “I expected a tough match, and so it was. It was hard for me to predict the result. One point would have been sufficient for me. Now we got three: simply outstanding.”

Pool B

Estonia – Croatia 3-2 (27:29, 17:25, 25:13, 25:21, 15:10)
For Estonia captain Kert Toobal, Robert Täht, Oliver Venno, Rait Rikberg and Ardo Kreek had their first match in the national team in this year’s Golden European League. Despite Croatia was ahead 0:2, the home team was able to made a great comeback, winning the following three sets. Robert Täht was the top scorer for Estonia with 17 points, while Ivan Raic scored 19 points on the other side.

Gheorghe Cretu, head coach of Estonia: “The start was a bit difficult and I was a little afraid the guys would hurt themselves, because their will to perform well in front of our fans was huge but they do not have a good rhythm yet. After the second set, I started making substitutions and I received a lot of useful information from these five sets. In the end, I am satisfied with how we managed to step up our game.”

Emanuele Zanini, head coach of Croatia: “Today we played like two different games – the first two sets and the last three sets. Estonia had problems at the beginning but overall they had a better rhythm in the game. After Estonia changed three players (Hindrek Pulk, Silver Maar and Kristo Kollo), they received much better and served much better. For us, these changes created many problems. We are disappointed because when you are up 2-0 and eventually lose, it is always disappointing. But this competition is my first opportunity to work with this team and we try to improve game by game.”

The Netherlands – Spain 3-2 (25:15, 25:23, 22:25, 20:25, 15:11)

This was the fourth five-set match for the Netherlands, and now they lead Pool B with seven points from four matches and 3-1 score. Spain are second with two victories and 8 points. In this match captain Nimir Abdel-Aziz was top scorer with 33 points (Including 9 aces!) while Andres Jesus Villena scored 20 on the other side

Roberto Piazza, head coach of the Netherlands: “We must have more confidence in the things we need to do and in the team. We know exactly what to do in the plan, especially when we are leading the game 2-0 and 20-18, we have to keep that set and finish the game 3-0. Wednesday against Estonia will be a tough game, we have to focus on our thing, and we have to believe that everything is possible.”

Nimir Abdel-Aziz, captain of the Netherlands: “We played very good for the first set and a half. After that, we started to make more mistakes, played against ourselves instead of against Spain. But in the fifth set I think we got to a good level again. In the fifth set we started to play our game again, put pressure on them and that’s why we won.”

Fernando Muñoz Benitez, head coach of Spain: “The key was the serve today. The Dutch team put a lot of pressure in their serve, and we had no control in reception. In the second set we turned things around, although we didn’t win that one. We pushed, came back, it was a good reaction of the team. In the fifth set it did happen again what happened before already. The Netherlands had some good serves with Abdel-Aziz and Ter Horst. That made the difference.”

Pool C

Czech Republic – Belarus 3-1 (25:21, 25:18, 19:25, 25:23)
In front of about 1,200 fans in Jindrichuv Hradec, Czech Republic claimed their third victory in the pool. This was the first defeat for Belarus in Pool C.

Michal Nekola, head coach of Czech Republic: “We won today’s match for a smaller number of mistakes. The Belarusians confirmed their quality, but we played practically without mistakes in the first two sets. Our team showed much strength today – everyone who came in, helped. The atmosphere was excellent. Whenever the hall is full, we play better. I hope the audience liked today’s game.”

Jakub Janouch, captain of Czech Republic: “It was a fantastic match, and we enjoyed it very much. There was a great atmosphere. I believe we still have a chance to reach the Final Four.”

Viktar Beksha, head coach of Belarus: “The home team served very well. In addition to that, the Czech fans gave them strength. It is a pity that at the end of the second and fourth sets we missed many services.”

CLICK HERE FOR SEE THE GALLERY OF THE MATCH

Ukraine – Finland 3-0 (25:16, 25:20, 25:23)
Finland suffered their fourth straight defeat in the competition.
Ian Iereshchenko and Dmytro Viietskyi (who come back from a serious injury), scoring respectively 19 and 14 points, led Ukraine to a great victory, and their team have improved their win-loss record to 2-2.

2019 CEV Volleyball European Golden League – Day 4
RECAP OF THE RESULTS:

POOL A:
Turkey – Slovakia 3-0 (25:15, 25:11, 25:17)
Belgium – Latvia 1-3 (25:16, 21:25, 22:25, 23:25)

POOL B:
Estonia – Croatia 3-2 (27:29, 17:25, 25:13, 25:21, 15:10)
Netherlands – Spain 3-2 (25:15, 25:23, 22:25, 20:25, 15:11)

POOL C:
Czech Republic – Belarus 3-1 (25:21, 25:18, 19:25, 25:23) —GALLERY—
Ukraine – Finland 3-0 (25:16, 25:20, 25:23)

2019 CEV Volleyball European Golden League – Day 3
2019 CEV Volleyball European Golden League – Day 2
2019 CEV Volleyball European Golden League – Day 1

Source: CEV
Photos: CEV, randomvolley.com