Golden European League: all results of May 30

Spain recorded first victory at the 2021 edition of the Golden European League. The players around Augusto Renato Colito claim first 3 points at the competition outclassing Latvia by 3-1.
Even though the match was very balanced, Spain remained more concentrated in the decisive moments of the match. Colito topped the charts for his team with 17 points (including 5 aces), but it was Latvia’s Kristaps Šmits who became top scorer of the match with 19 points, while Gustavs Freimanis made 7 winning blocks.

Edvins Skruders, stter of Latvia: “We made a lot of bad mistakes, especially in the first half of the game. And we lost too many points in service. Maybe in the decisive moments the opposite team had more luck than us.”

Rubén Lorente Camacho, setter of Spain: “It was a big match for us. I think we were little bit tired from yesterday’s long match against Belgium. It was obvious that in certain moments, we were struggling, but we continued to fight as a team. I´m very happy for the win and how we played today. I am also happy to get playing time since our first setter has some small problems with his back.”

On the same Pool, Estonia top the charts after coming from 2 sets down to eventually claim the 3-2 victory against Belgium. In a match that lasted 126 minutes (and a decisive match at the end of the first tournament in Tartu), both teams showed a very balanced game. Turning point was the third set when the players coached by Cedric Enard pushed hard on the attack and with 16 winnings spikes. In the remainder of the match, both Belgium led by Sam Deroo (24 points) and Estonia by Oliver Venno (23 points), were fighting for each ball but it was the hosts of Estonia that congratulated themselves with the victory.
The second tournament starts on June 4 in Latvia.

Czech Republic and Portugal played a great match in the first game for the day in Pool C in Minsk, Belarus. After 110 minutes of play Portugal emerged victorious after a thrilling five-setter, full of nice rallies and many turnarounds, with the third set that finished at 39-37 in favour of Portugal. Overall, both teams showed equal skills with 11 blocks and 4 aces each, with the team of Jiri Novak being slightly better on attack. However, the greater number of errors by the Czech players affected the final score.
This is the first victory at the competition for the team around head coach Hugo Silva, who in the 2019 edition of the competition didn’t participate. Czech Republic, on the other hand, are yet to record a victory, while in 2019 they finished on 8th place. Marco Evan Ferreira of Portugal was the top scorer of the match with 25 points, while for the Czech team, Vasina was the best with 24.

On the other match of the same Pool, the reigning champions from Turkey didn’t let any surprises and with the 16 kill blocks and 6 aces in the match against Belarus, claimed an easy straight-sets victory. Yiğit Gülmezoglu was the top scorer of the match with 15 points and 67% excellence on attack. For Belarus, Uladzislau Babkevich made 13. With this victory and at the end of the first tournament, Turkey are currently first in Pool C.

| 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)

— 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)
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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)

👉🏼 STANDINGS: Estonia 8, Belgium 7, Spain 3, Latvia 0.

— 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)

👉🏼 STANDINGS: Turkey 9, Belarus 3, Portugal 2, Czech Republic 1.
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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