The led a list of Individual Awards handed out at the Closing Ceremony of the competition.

The men’s individual awards:

• MVP: Viktor Milenin (Russia)
• Top scorer: Robert Kertesz (Hungary)
• Best server: Dragisa Zoric (Serbia)
• Best receiver: Dominik Seitz (Germany)
• Best blocker: Edin Zdionka (Croatia)
• Best setter: Evgenii Volosnikov (Russia)
• Best attacker: Ivan Cosic (Croatia)
• Best Hungarian player: Robert Kertesz

The women’s individual awards:

• MVP: Iuliia Mednikova (Russia)
• Top scorer: Andrea Giba (Croatia)
• Best server: Iuliia Mednikova (Russia)
• Best receiver: Elina Bezprovzanna (Ukraine)
• Best blocker: Andreja Giba (Croatia)
• Best setter: Tatiana Ivanova (Russia)
• Best attacker: Michelle Schiffer (Germany)
• Best Hungarian player: Barbara Nebehaj

The post Milenin, Mednikova named MVPs of 2019 #EuroSittingVolleyball appeared first on 2019 Paravolley Europe.

It was a truly fitting end, full of drama and emotion, to a wonderful week of sitting volleyball here in Budapest that showcased the best that Europe has to offer in the sport. It was a highly successful defence by Russia of their 2017 title in Porec.

After ten titles on the trot, between 1991 and 2015, Bosnia & Herzegovina are left without gold for the second time running. Viktor Milenin with a match high led Russia once again, masterminding the comeback in the tie-break from 12-14 down.

He was given the MVP of the tournament award for his efforts throughout the week – which included helping Russia claim a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Previously on the closing day, Germany had returned to the podium for the first time since their silver in 2015, after beating Ukraine 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-22) in the bronze medal match. The result means Ukraine’s silver medal of 2017 remains a one-off podium finish.

The post Russia Men complete epic triumph for men’s #EuroSittingVolley title appeared first on 2019 Paravolley Europe.

Russia completed their campaign at the European Championships in Budapest undefeated and without dropping a single set in their seven matches.

They became only the second team in after the Netherlands to claim consecutive titles in the history of the European Championships. Led by tournament MVP Iuliia Mednikova, Russia overhwelmed Italy in the first two sets and then came from behind in the third to complete the clean sweep.

But for Italy too – although their performance didn’t match the magical moments they had provided the previous evening in the semifinal against Germany – the silver medal was a huge historic achievement. It marks the first ever podium appearance for Italy in the history of the competition – and just as importantly, the medal comes together with a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

It was Russia’s second straight and overall gold medal (after a bronze in 2011 and a silver in 2015). A little earlier in Budapest, Germany regrouped after their semifinal performance against Italy and gave Ukraine a run for their money in the bronze medal match.

Ukraine did eventually outlast the Germans in the tie break for a 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10) win that secured their seventh straight podium finish since their first appearance in 2007. Germany had been aiming at their first ever medal in the history of the competition, although fourth place is already an improvement over their eighth last time around in 2017.

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Slovenia shut out Croatia to finish 5th in women’s 2019 #EuroSittingVolley

Budapest, Hungary, 20 July 2019 – Slovenia captured 5th place in the women’s final ranking of the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships after sweeping Croatia 3-0 (25-8 25-16, 25-18) in their last match of the women’s pool for positions 9-5.

Lena Gabrscek with 14 points Klara Vrabic with 13 for Slovenia were top scorers of the game, though Andreja Giba was close behind with 12 for Croatia. Slovenia’s serving was no match for Croatia, producing 26 aces to decide the outcome.

Slovenia finished undefeated in the 5-9 pool, but the result also guarantees Finland 6th place in the final ranking. Positions 7 and 8 will be confirmed after the last match of the pool. Great Britain have already ranked 9th.

Men – 5th/6th Place – CRO v SRB

Croatia outlast Serbia in tie-break for 5th place

Budapest, Hungary, 20 July 2019 – Croatia managed to outlast Serbia 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-14, 22-25, 15-8) to claim 5th place in the men’s final ranking at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships.

Captain Ivan Cosic scored a match high 18 points and Edvin Zdionica contributed another 17 for Croatia in a match that was too close to call until the end.

With each team serving five aces and attacking for 33%, Serbia just had the edge in blocking with 12 stuffs to 11. But Croatia kept their unforced errors to 30, compared to 39 committed by Serbia. Serbia rank 6th overall in the European Championships.

Men – 7th/8th Place – LAT v NED

Latvia take 7th place with win over the Netherlands

Budapest, Hungary, 20 July 2019 – Latvia came back from a set down to beat the Netherlands 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-23) and clinch 7th place in the men’s final ranking at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championship.

Andrejs Filipavics scored 20 points for Latvia, with Aleksandrs Vivcariks and Juris Sprukts adding another 14 each – to counter the match highs of 22 by Loek Hendrix and 20 by Geert van den Heuvel for the Dutch.

Latvia outblocked (14 to 10) and outserved (10 to 6) the Netherlands. The result leaves the Netherlands in 8th place in the final ranking.

Women – 7th/8th Place – HUN v FIN

Finland beat Hungary to wrap up women’s 5-9 pool

Budapest, Hungary, 20 July 2019 – Finland wrapped up women’s 5-9 pool at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-9, 25-15) victory that brought the classification matches to a close.

Maria Viitala was again top scorer for Finland with a match high of 18 points, as the winners served an impressive total of 30 aces for an average of 10 per set. Finland had already secured 6th place in the overall ranking even before the start of the match.

But the result gave Croatia 7th place and left Hungary in 8th. Great Britain bring up the rear in 9th place overall. Earlier on Saturday, Slovenia had clinched 5th place after completing the pool undefeated.

Men Bronze Medal game – UKR v GER

Germany outclass Ukraine for men’s bronze at 2019 #EuroSittingVolley

Budapest, Hungary, 20 July 2019 – Germany return to the podium of the Sitting Volleyball Men’s European Championships, after missing out last time, winning the bronze medal at the 2019 edition with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-22) win over Ukraine.

Germany produced some highly efficient volleyball to take early leads in both the first and second sets. Ukraine tried to gain control and get back in the game in the third, but Germany quickly put that right, making a 7-0 run from 4-8 to 11-8. They never looked back, extending their newfound lead to reach match point with five to spare.

Ukraine did make a last-minute desperate attempt to stay alive, closing in from 19-24 to 22-24, But coach Michael Merten called a timeout to disrupt that run and upon returning on court #10 promptly blocked Dmytro Melnyk to settle the matter once and for all.

Dominik Albrecht was back to his usual self, bagging a match-high 23 points for Germany with a 45% attacking efficiency (21 kills from 47 swings). Denys Bytchenko with 13 points for Ukraine was the only other player to score in double digits. The result means Ukraine’s silver medal of 2017 remains a one-off podium finish.

Women Bronze Medal game – UKR v GER

Ukraine react to German pressure to take women’s bronze

Budapest, Hungary, 20 July 2019 – Germany gave Ukraine a run for their money but failed to make the podium for the first time in history, as Ukraine persevered for a 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10) win that earned them women’s bronze at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships here Saturday afternoon.

It is Ukraine’s seventh straight podium finish since their first appearance in 2007 for silver. Ukraine quickly got off to a 3-0 start in the tie-break and began building on that, to switch courts five points in the lead.

Germany did rally back to close in to within two, but at 13-10 Liudmyla Lozko tipped the ball over the block and Kateryna Koziar followed up with a stuff on Marlies Dreblow to seal the deal. Ukrained based their win on an amazing scoring performance by Elina Bezprozvanna who bagged 35 points and registered a kill efficiency of 55% (31/56) with Lozko adding another 20. Michelle Schiffler was Germany’s high scorer with 19.

Women Gold Medal game – RUS v ITA

Unstoppable Russia demolish Italy for back-to-back women’s titles

Budapest, Hungary, 20 July 2019 – Russia were on fire here Saturday afternoon, demolishing Italy 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-22) to claim women’s gold at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships with back-to-back titles.

Russia completed their campaign at the European Championships in Budapest undefeated and without dropping a single set in their seven matches.

From the Italian side there was none of the previous night’s magic that had earned them a place in the final and a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Russia immediately got off with a 5-0 run at the very start of the game and made it all look so simple from there on.

Italy did attempt a half-hearted comeback in the third, advancing to a 4-12 lead, but an 11-3 run by the defending champions had it all level by 15-15 and reached match point with three to spare. Italy pulled one last one back for 24-22, but a tip by Irina Smirnova deep down the line and into the corner wrapped it all up.

Smirnova with a match-high 14 points Iuliia Mednikova with another 12 were Russia’s scoring leaders, as the winners served 16 aces (six of those from Smirnova).

It was Russia’s second straight and overall gold medal (after a bronze in 2011 and a silver in 2015).

For Italy it was still a historic moment – their first ever appearance on the podium of a Sitting Volleyball European Championships.

Men Gold Medal game – RUS v BIH

Russia survive three match points to claim back-to-back titles

Budapest, Hungary, 20 July 2019 – Russia edged Bosnia & Herzegovina in dramatic fashion, cancelling three match points of the Balkan side and winning an epic 3-2 (26-24, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 17-15) battle in the men’s final of the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships for back-to-back titles.

After ten titles on the trot, between 1991 and 2015, Bosnia & Herzegovina are left without gold for the second time running.

Bosnia & Herzegovina came from far behind in the first set to tie the score at 23-23 and become first to reach set point – though that was cancelled on a net touch by Ermin Jusufovic and Russia responded with back-to-back points by Viktor Milenin, on a block on Adnan Manko for 25-24 followed by a kill to bring it home.

It was the first set that Bosnia & Herzegovina lost in the whole competition, after a 21-0 run.

Russia remained in control at the start of the second, though Bosnia & Herzegovina caught up at 10-10 and the two sides fought point-by-point until Mirzet Duran punched the ball through the Russian block for Bosnia & Herzegovina to reach match point and then Milenin hit long.

It was just as tight in the third, but after 18-18 Bosnia & Herzegovina broke off by three points and kept on siding out till the end.

Russia turned the tables in the fourth and it was the defending champions that got that slight two-point advantage going into the 20s and reaching set point at 24-21, before Nizam Cancar failed to clear the net in Bosnia & Herzegovina’s counter-attack, forcing the tie-break.

A 4-1 breakaway by Bosnia & Heregovina at the start of the tie-break forced coach Aleksandr Ovsyanniko to call an early timeout and promptly Russia rallied to come level. Bosnia & Herzegovina broke away once again to change sides leading by three, Russia levelled again and so it carried on until Bosnia & Herzegovina reached set point with two to spare at 12-14.

A couple of attacks by Milenin, though, cancelled both set points to make it 14-14 and yet another for 15-15, before captain Aleksandr Savichev brought Russia ahead for the first time in the set and the defending champions errupted in celebration after an errant attack by Bosnia & Herzegovina brought it all to a close.

Milenin with 26 points was by a long shot the top scorer of the final on 26 points, including 2 aces and 4 blocks. Savichev added another 19 for Russia, on par with Bosnia & Herzegovina’s best scorer, Ermin Jusufovic.

Russia were totally outblocked (14 to 26) but produced far more efficient receiving (34% to 17%).

It was the second time in this European Championships that the two teams came head-to-head. In pool play Bosnia & Herzegovina had beaten Russia in straight sets.

The post Day 6 – Men’s & Women’s Medals match reports appeared first on 2019 Paravolley Europe.

Not only did Italy make the final of the competition on Saturday, they also became the second European side to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralaympic Games, where they join Russia – their opponent in Saturday’s final here. Russia had already punched their own ticket to Japan last year.

Francesca Bosio was absolutely brilliant throughout the game, causing panic in the German camp whenever she came up to serve as she delivered 15 of Italy’s 25 aces and scored a match high of 25 points overall.

One court down, aces by Iuliia Mednikova either side of a kill from the middle by Ekaterina Okorokova brought home for Russia a match against a Ukrainian team that was not quite in it.

Russia will now be going for back-to-back European titles against an Italian side that has already reached its goal and should be out to showcase their best volleyball without any stress.

Exactly as in the men’s competition, it will be Ukraine v Germany for the women’s bronze

The post Double success for Italy who make Tokyo 2020 and play Russia in Women’s #EuroSittingVolley final appeared first on 2019 Paravolley Europe.

But just as importantly, Russia will be representing Europe at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games next year, after becoming the top team not yet qualified. They will be joining Bosnia & Herzegovina who had already claimed their own berth in Tokyo since last year.

Russia never left any doubt who was the boss in their semifinal against Germany, who just couldn’t find solutions to Viktor Milenin and captain Aleksandr Savichev – Dominik Albrecht’s match joint match high of 14 points on par with Milenin not enough to worry the Russians. The final score of 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-16) is quite indicative of how Russia built up a lead in each of the three sets and held on to it until the end.

In the next court, at the same time, Bosnia & Herzegovina were dealing with 2017 silver medallists Ukraine in a similar fashion. Mirzet Duran was the driving force behind Bosnia & Herzegovina’s win with 15 points, as his side built up leads in all three sets and left Ukraine trying in vain to catch up. An impenetrable block mostly by Sabahudin Delalic and sub Edin Djino who registered three stuffs each from a team total of 12 was decisive.

Denys Bytchenko’s match high of 16 points for Ukraine proved too little to make a difference. Both Germany and Ukraine will now have to bounce back from today’s defeats if they’re to make the podium. In the other crucial game of the day, Turkey secured their ticket to Division A of the 2021 European Championships after their win over Lithuania 3-1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23) that sealed 9th place in the standings of the 2019 Sitting Volleyball Men’s European Championships. Mehmet Yilmaz pulled off an amazing performance and scored 31 points – 28 of those from kills off his 62 swings (45%) – to lead Turkey to the important win.

The post Russia go to Tokyo 2020, play Bosnia & Herzegovina in 2019 #EuroSittingVolley final appeared first on 2019 Paravolley Europe.

Slovenia on track for 5th place after sweep of Great Britain

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Slovenia remain undefeated at the top of the table of the 5-9 pool at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships after sweeping Great Britain 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-13) to get Day 5 started at the competition here Friday morning.

A match high 13 points by Klara Vrabic plus 12 from Senta Jeler and 11 from captain Lena Gabršček got Slovenia going, as they served as many as 33 aces (to Great Britain’s 12).

Slovenia are now 2-0 at the top of the table (though Hungary and Croatia also remain undefeated). Great Britain remain winless after three matches in the 5-9 pool and seven matches overall in these European Championships.

CRO v FIN

Finland grab first win in women’s 5-9 pool

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Finland shut out Croatia 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-17) as pool play for women’s positions 5-9 at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships here Friday morning.

Maria Viitala was again top scorer for Finland with a match high 14 points, as the Nordic side served 16 aces to Croatia’s 11 and also attacked much more efficiently.

It was Finland’s first win in the pool, bringing their record to 1-1, on par with Croatia who suffered their first loss in the 5-9 matches.

FIN v GBR

Finland grab another victory for 5-9, leave Great Britain winless

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Finland scored another victory in the race for 5th place in the 2019 Sitting Volleyball Women’s European Championship, 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-8) over bottom of the table Great Britain in the 5-9 pool.

Once more it was Maria Viitala leading the scoring for Finland with a match high 9 points. The Finns served 23 aces, including six each from Hanna-Maria Sariluoto, Petra Pakarinen and Viitala.

This brings Great Britain’s campaign in the European Championships to a close, winless after a total of eight matches and ranked 9th overall.

CRO v HUN

Croatia outlast Hungary in race for 5th place

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Croatia twice led and were twice equalised before eventually getting the win 3-2 (25-21, 15-25, 25-17, 13-25, 15-10) over hosts Hungary in the continuing race for 5th place in the women’s 5-9 round-robin pool.

Captain Andreja Giba was again top scorer for Croatia with 14 points, though Hungary’s Barbara Nebehaj got the match high of 19.

It was Hungary’s first defeat in the 5-9 pool and the hosts now stand at 1-1, while Croatia go 2-1. Slovenia remain the only unbeaten team in the pool on 2-0.

RUS v UKR

Russia step up to to make fourth straight #EuroSittingVolley final

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Russia will be there to defend their title from 2017 when they meet Italy in Saturday’s final of the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships, after totally overwhelming Ukraine 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-12) in Friday evening semifinal action here.

The match was almost a non-event, with Russia producing such brilliance on the court that left Ukraine struggling to find any way back in.

Two aces by Iuliia Mednikova either side of a kill from the middle by Ekaterina Okorokova for the last three points in the match brought it all home for Russia.

Mednikova was the top scorer of the game with 10 points – the only player across the board to go into double digits, though Okorokova was close behind on 9.

Russia served 12 aces to Ukraine’s 4 and attacked for a very solid 58% (32/55) – though they were outblocked by Ukraine 5 to 7.

While Russia will now be going for back-to-back titles tomorrow against Italy, Ukraine, silver medallists last time around, will have to settle for the bronze medal game against Germany.

ITA v GER

Ruthless Italy obliterate Germany for tickets to Euro final and Tokyo 2020

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Italy hammered Germany 3-0 (25-12, 25-9, 25-23) to make the women’s final of the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships while at the same time earning a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

The ticket to Tokyo 2020 was in combination with Russia’s win, just some minutes earlier over Ukraine in the other semifinal. With Russia already qualified to the Paralympic Games since last year on the basis of their ranking at the World Championships, Italy are assured to join them in Japan regardless of the result in the European Championships final here tomorrow.

With a lot of pressure from the service line, Italy immediately took control of the game and broke a way for a very quick early lead, which they continued to widen as the first set wore on, for a double-score finish.
Anyone expecting Germany to balance out the play was disappointed, as the Azzurre continued their relentless serving creating havoc in the German reception, while fully dominating on the net and pushing the Germans into a series of unforced errors. It was certainly double- (and actually almost triple-) score again in the second.

Italy did seem to tone it down a bit in the third and Germany got off to early lead. But at 11-16 Francesca Bosio, absolutely brilliant throughout the game, moved to the service line and delivered back-to-back aces to brig it all level at 16-16.

It was just a matter of keeping up for Italy from there on, and when it was all down to the wire at 23-23 in the third, Eva Ceccatelli served an ace and then set up Bosio for the final block that clinched the deal.

Bosio was awesome today, scoring 25 points and delivering 15 of Italy’s 25 aces, while libero @Silvia Biasi did an amazing job in reception and setting up the plays that led to Italy’s triumph.

It was the first defeat in this tournament for Germany, who now have to play for consolation bronze against Ukraine on Saturday.

SLO v HUN

Slovenia close in on 5th place with win over hosts Hungary

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Slovenia are within touching distance of 5th place at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball Women’s European Championships after their latest win, 3-0 (25-11, 25-23, 25-12) in the 5-9 pool.

This time it was Suzana Ocepek with 13 and captain Lena Gabrscek with 12 that brought in the points for Slovenia, who served 23 aces – 8 by Danica Gosna alone who only came on off the bench in the third set.

The win leaves Slovenia undefeated at the top of the pool standings on a 3-0 record, but they can only confirm the 5th place on Saturday, when the last matches will be played.

The post Day 5 – Women’s match reports appeared first on 2019 Paravolley Europe.

Serbia go for 5th place after win over the Dutch

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Serbia held off the Netherlands for a 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19) win, here on Friday morning, that puts the Balkan side in position to fight for 5th place in the 2019 Sitting Volleyball Men’s European Championships.

Dragisa Zoric scored a match high of 17 points for Serbia, though the Netherlands’ Geert van den Heuvel was close on his heels with 16. The Serbs outplayed the Dutch in all scoring skills, though lagged just a little bit in receiving.

In the classification match for 5th place Serbia will meet the winner of the Latvia v Croatia match. The Netherlands will play the loser for 7th place.

LAT v CRO

Croatia go for 5th place after shutting out Latvia

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Croatia remain on track for a fifth-place finish at the 2019 Sitting Volleyball Men’s European Championships after their 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19) win over Latvia.

Edvin Zdionica and captain Ivan Cosic were joint top scorers of the game on 17 points each, as Croatia dominated the game across the board, including 12 aces (half of those from Zdionica) and 5 blocks.

Croatia will now challenge Serbia for 5th place on Saturday, while Latvia will meet the Netherlands for 7th place.

POL v HUN

Poland shut out the hosts to grab 11th place

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Poland, once just on the brink of advancing to the quarterfinals, have ranked 11th overall in the 2019 Sitting Volleyball Men’s European Championships after wrapping up their campaign with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-22) win over hosts Hungary.

Michal Machowski scored 13 points and Michal Wypych added another 10 for Poland, but the match high came from Robert Kertesz who bagged 18 for Hungary.

The Poles proved more successful on the net with 8 blocks to 3 and a 50% attacking efficiency (27/54) to 31% (22/72).

The result leaves Hungary 12th in the final ranking of the 2019 European Championships.

LTU v TUR

Turkey seal 9th place and secure ticket to Division A for 2021

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Turkey secured their ticket to Division A of the 2021 European Championships after their win here on Friday evening 3-1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23) that sealed 9th place in the standings of the 2019 Sitting Volleyball Men’s European Championships.

BIH v UKR

Bosnia & Herzegovina go for 10th European title after making 2019

#EuroSittingVolley final Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Bosnia & Herzegovina vie for their tenth continental title here on Saturday after making the men’s final of the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-19) sweep of Ukraine in semifinal action here Friday evening.

Bosnia & Herzegovina will play in a European Championship final again for the first time since 2015, after missing out in 2017 when they claimed the bronze medal. That came after back-to-back titles for the Balkan side since 1999.

Mirzet Duran was the driving force behind Bosnia & Herzegovina’s with 15 points, as his side built up leads in all three sets and left Ukraine trying in vain to catch up. An impenetrable block mostly by Sabahudin Delalic and sub Edin Djino who registered three each from a team total of 12, was instrumental in Bosnia & Herzegovina’s win.

Denys Bytchenko’s match high of 16 points for Ukraine proved too little to make a difference, although the losers did register a more efficient reception.

Bosnia & Herzegovina will now meet Russia in Saturday’s final, a rematch of all four European Championship finals between 2007 and 2013. Ukraine, silver medallists last time around in 2017, will have to settle for the bronze medal match this year, where they meet Germany.

RUS v GER

Russia overpower Germany to make 2019 #EuroSittingVolley final and claim ticket to Tokyo 2020

Budapest, Hungary, 19 July 2019 – Russia are through to the men’s final of the 2019 Sitting Volleyball European Championships following a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-16) win over Germany that also saw them claim a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

With Bosnia & Herzegovina, Russia’s opponent in Saturday’s final having already booked their own ticket to the Paralympics since last year on the basis of their ranking at the World Championships, Russia are now assured to join them in Japan regardless of the result in the European Championships final.

Germany kept up in the scoreline through to about midway into the first set, but the defending champions gradually built up a lead of up to five points.

It was a similar scenario in the second, as Germany simply couldn’t find a solution to Viktor Milenin. Russia built their lead, Germany pulled a few points back to close in to within five 22-17 forcing coach Aleksandr Ovsyannikov to call a timeout – but that was just the extent of Russia’s worries.

It was the same all over again in the third, with Russia once again breaking away half way through the set and Germany just unable to keep the pace set by Milenin and captain Aleksandr Savichev.

Indeed, the pair of them were Russia’s high scorers, with Milenin on 14 and Savichev just one below at 13. Germany’s Dominik Albrecht was joint top scorer of the game, on par with Milenin.

It was Russia’s attacking and receiving that made the difference in the game – all other skills more or less level.

Germany’s men followed the fate of their women’s team who had previously fallen to Italy in the semifinals. They now meet Ukraine in Saturday’s bronze medal match.

The post Day 5 – Men’s match reports appeared first on 2019 Paravolley Europe.

Defending champions Russia downed Serbia 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-17) to stay on track for back-to-back titles.

The two undefeated sides of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Germany also made it comfortably through with wins over Latvia 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-8) and the Netherlands 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-18) respectively.

Ukraine, last year’s runners-up, made up the numbers with a tighter 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-21) victory over Croatia.

But further down the rankings, playing for positions 9-12, Turkey and Lithuania, both winless after pool play, snagged their first victories in this tournament on Thursday and go head-to-head on Friday for the coveted 9th place which comes with an automatic ticket to the Division A European Championships of 2021.

Led by Mehmet Yilmaz who bagged the day’s high of 30 points, Turkey twice came back from a set down to edge hosts Hungary 3-2 (17-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 15-9). Lithuania made an easier job of Poland, who were reeling on the disappointment of having very narrowly just missed out on a quarterfinal ticket, with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23) win.

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The winner will get to play either Germany or Italy, who clash in the other semifinal.

Russia prevailed over hosts Hungary in easy straight sets 3-0 (25-14, 25-6, 25-20) to stay undefeated in the tournament and Ukraine followed suit with a win over Slovenia 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-18).

Germany, the only other undefeated side alongside Russia, struggled a bit in the second and third sets against Finland, but found their way to victory 3-0 (25-10, 27-25, 25-21).

Italy completed the semifinals lineup, advancing on their 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-6) win over Croatia.

The women’s semifinals are set for Friday afternoon, with the medals matches to follow on Saturday at Ludovika Arena of the University of Public Service in the Hungarian capital.

In the round-robin pool for positions 9-12, meanwhile the quarterfinal losers have joined Great Britain and Slovenia have already taken an advantage with a critical win over Finland 3-1 (25-15, 25-11, 19-25, 25-21).

To round up the day in Budapest, Croatia captain Andreja Giba registered the high score of the day in Croatia’s win over Great Britain with 27 points.

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