Coupe de France: Nice and Tours will fight for the title in Grand Finale!

2 min read

28 February 2023 Danilo

Both semifinals of 2022/23 were played today and, as we had predicted, we will see the final that you don’t expect.
To fight for the title scheduled on April 2 in Paris will be Tours (who defeated Narbonne in straight sets in front of their home fans) and…Nice, who won at tie break on the field of Poitiers, in a match played on a high level, closed amidst the controversy at 13-15 of fifth set.

Of course, in the semifinal ended in straight sets (25:19, 26:24, 25:22)Ligue A leaders Tours were favorite, however, after a bad first set, Narbonne fought, above all in the final phase of second set, in which they were able to delete a 16-10 advantage, and at the very beginning of third set, even though they wasted a 4-8 lead.
Drame Neto was the most prolific player on the winning side with 16 points through 67% in attack, while Luca Vettori and Wilner Rivas put down 17 and 14 points respectively for Narbonne.

In Grand Finale, scheduled on April 2 in Paris, Tours will face Nice.
Currently at 11th place in Ligue A standings, today the guys around coach Redwitz showed an amazing performance and they even managed to win the game in Poitiers after a thrilling tie break – 2-3 (25:22, 21:25, 19:25, 25:17, 13:15), despite the heavy absence of starting setter Javier Gonzalez, out until the end of season, and starting opposite Celestin Cardin. And despite captain Steven Marshall has left the field towards the end of the second set, replaced by Matteo Schalk.
In the decisive fifth set, Nice even wasted a 10-14 lead, and they managed to close the game although a possible foul linked to the center line, but the referee’s unmoved and they deservedly claim their ticket to Paris’ final.
Luis Paolinetti top-scored the winning side with 20 points, while MVP Wilian Doardo also contributed with 16.
About the hosts, the 28 points of top scorer Gabriel Candido (including 4 aces and 4 winning blocls) were not enough.

| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

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🏆| 2022/23 COUPE DE FRANCE | 1/2 Finals

👉🏼 Tuesday | February 28, 2023

• 20.00 (Local Time) | Poitiers – Nice 2-3 (25:22, 21:25, 19:25, 25:17, 13:15)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH