Golden European League: all results of May 29

On Saturday in Pool A Belgium and Spain made a great Volleyball battle in the Golden European League. Belgium emerged victorious in four sets, even if Spain were close to pushing the game at tiebreak. A slightly better performance on the attack became the key to the success for the winners, who claim their second win at the tournament in Estonia, while Spain are yet to record a victory.
Spain’s August Renato Colito finished with 27 points to his name, but his outstanding performance wasn’t enough.

Borja Ruiz, opposite of Spain: “It was a difficult match and we showed good fight as a team. In the decisive moments, small details made the difference in the result. The fourth set was a real thriller and could have gone either way. We lost to a very good team. Our goal is still to make it to the Final Four, so we have to win tomorrow and also play well in the next tournament in Latvia.”

Kobe Brems, setter of Belgium: “Of course, we are very happy that we won. We had a bad start today in all the sets and we were struggling. But in the end our block-defence improved and I think this was one of the keys for the win. It’s a big opportunity for me to play next to the stars like Sam Deroo and Tomas Rousseaux, they support younger and less experienced like me. I think we have a good mix of younger and more experienced players.”

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The hosts of the tournament in Tartu, Estonia, destroyed Latvia in straight sets. The winners of the 2016 and 2018 European Leagues needed only exactly 65 minutes to close a match with no problems with 41 winning spikes, 9 kill blocks and 10 aces. This is second victory for Estonia while Latvia, on the other hand, are will winless but will have their chances to record a first victory tomorrow, vs Spain. Ardo Kreek finished as Top Scorer with 14 points (including 3 winning blocks), followed by his teammates Albert Hurt who added 13 and Renee Teppan with 12.

Avo Keel, head coach of Latvia: “In the first set, we could play as our reception was good. Then Estonia’s service improved and at some point almost all of their players created big problems for us. Tomorrow, against Spain, we will try to get the win for sure, and play with a different line-up. This first tournament is still a place for me to test different players and different things, in the next tournament at home we will play with full maximum power.”

Renee Teppan, opposite of Estonia: “The service worked well but we have been working with this at practice a lot, so now it’s paying off. But we cannot put all our hopes to service, block-defence is also an important aspect of our game and there we have a lot of room for improvement. I expected a difficult match and Lativa started well and we had some difficult moments today. Tomorrow agains Belgium we cannot start like this, we must be more aggressive.”

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In Pool C, the reigning champions Turkey continue on performing good in this year’s edition of the competition as on the second day claimed a straight-sets victory over Portugal after having beating 3-1 the Czech Republic yesterday. The players around head coach Nedim Özbey were dominated on attack and on the block, while Portugal were slightly better on the serve finishing with 4 aces compared to 3 by Turkey. Adis Lagumzija topped again the charts, recording 20 points including 2 aces.

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On the other match of Pool C, Belarus, who started this Saturday their competition vs Czech Republic, could do it in the right way, claiming a 3-1 victory over the team coached by Jiri Novak. The winners managed to seize their opportunities on the attack, and with 55% efficiency in the winning spikes. Jan Galabov (CZE) and Uladzislau Davyskiba (BLR) led their teams in today’s match, both scoring 19 points, while Maksim Bahatka supported Davyskiba with 16.

| CEV Golden European League 2021′ – Results & Program

MAY 28, 2021 –
— POOL A – Tartu (EST)
• Estonia – Spain 3-0 (25:23, 25:16, 25:18)
• Latvia – Belgium 1-3 (25:19, 16:25, 14:25, 21:25)
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— POOL C – Minsk (BLR)
• Czech Republic – Turkey 1-3 (19:25, 25:22, 21:25, 21:25)
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👉🏼 MAY 29, 2021 –
— POOL A – Tartu (EST)
• Spain – Belgium 1-3 (23:25, 25:21, 22:25, 33:35)

• Estonia – Latvia 3-0 (25:23, 25:13, 25:11)

👉🏼 STANDINGS: Estonia 6, Belgium 6, Spain 0, Latvia 0.

— POOL C – Minsk (BLR)
• Portugal – Turkey 0-3 (19:25, 24:26, 17:25)

• Belarus – Czech Republic 3-1 (25:21, 18:25, 25:17, 25:23)

👉🏼 STANDINGS: Turkey 6, Belarus 3, Czech Republic 0, Portugal 0.
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MAY 30, 2021 –
— POOL A – Tartu (EST)
• Spain – Latvia 3-1 (26:24, 25:23, 19:25, 26:25)
• Belgium – Estonia 2-3 (25:20, 25:20, 19:25, 21:25, 16:18)

— POOL C – Minsk (BLR)
• Czech Republic – Portugal 2-3 (25:20, 25:27, 37:39, 25:22, 12:15)
• Turkey – Belarus 3-0 (25:21, 25:20, 25:16)
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MAY 31, 2021 –
— POOL C – Minsk (BLR)
Belarus – Portugal 3-2 (25:22, 25:20, 23:25, 16:25, 15:10)
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JUNE 1, 2021 –
— POOL B – Zaporizhzhia (UKR)
• Ukraine – Romania 3-1 (22:25, 34:32, 25:23, 25:19)
• Slovakia – The Netherlands 3-0 (FORFEIT FOR VNL)
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JUNE 2, 2021 –
— POOL B – Zaporizhzhia (UKR)
• Romania – Slovakia 2-3 (29:27, 21:25, 25:22, 24:26, 12:15)
• The Netherlands – Ukraine 0-3 (FORFEIT FOR VNL)
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JUNE 3, 2021 –
— POOL B – Zaporizhzhia (UKR)
• Slovakia – Ukraine 0-3 (21:25, 8:25, 21:25)
• The Netherlands – Romania 0-3 (FORFEIT FOR VNL)

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JUNE 4, 2021 –
— POOL A – Liepaja (LAT)
• Estonia – Spain 3-1 (22:25, 25:13, 25:18, 25:16)
• Latvia – Belgium 1-3 (28:30, 23:25, 25:19, 16:25)

— POOL B – Zaporizhzhia (UKR)
• Romania – Ukraine 1-3 (25:15, 20:25, 18:25, 27:29)
• Slovakia – The Netherlands 3-0 (FORFEIT FOR VNL)

— POOL C – Santo Tirso (POR)
• Turkey – Belarus 3-0 (25:20, 25:23, 25:19)
• Czech Republic – Portugal 3-0 (25:20, 25:20, 25:18)
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JUNE 5, 2021 –
— POOL A – Liepaja (LAT)
• Spain – Latvia 3-0 (25:21, 25:23, 25:19)
• Belgium – Estonia 1-3 (25:20, 26:28, 30:32, 26:28)

— POOL B – Zaporizhzhia (UKR)
• Slovakia – Romania 1-3 (25:21, 20:25, 22:25, 19:25)
• The Netherlands – Ukraine 0-3 (FORFEIT FOR VNL)

— POOL C – Santo Tirso (POR)
• Belarus – Czech Republic 1-3 (20:25, 22:25, 25:23, 17:25)
• Portugal – Turkey 0-3 (28:30, 16:25, 16:25)
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JUNE 6, 2021 –
— POOL A – Liepaja (LAT)
• Spain – Belgium 0-3 (23:25, 17:25, 29:31)
• Estonia – Latvia 3-0 (25:20, 25:17, 25:16)

— POOL B – Zaporizhzhia (UKR)
• Ukraine – Slovakia 3-1 (23:25, 25:23, 25:21, 26:24)
• The Netherlands – Romania 0-3 (FORFEIT FOR VNL)

— POOL C – Santo Tirso (POR)
• Czech Republic – Turkey 1-3 (18:25, 14:25, 25:19, 20:25)
• Belarus – Portugal 3-2 (17:25, 22:25, 25:20, 25:20, 20:18)

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Source and Photos: CEV