For the first time in its history, the men's national team of Ukraine will participate in the Challenger Cup. The winner of this tournament, in addition to the cup, will also receive a ticket to the Nations League 2024. And, we would like to remind you that this is the most prestigious commercial volleyball tournament.
Regulations of the tournament
8 teams will play in the tournament: the last team of the Nations League-2023 - the national team of China.
Ukraine and Turkey are finalists of the European Golden League.
Tunisia became a participant, as the national team with the highest rating in Africa. Qatar is the host of the tournament, Chile is the team with the highest rating in South America, the Dominican Republic is the finalist of the NORCECA-2022 continental championship and Thailand is the winner of the Challenge Cup in Asia.
According to the rules of the Challenger Cup, the teams are divided into pairs according to the world ranking as of July 16.
The host of the competition - Qatar - receives the first seeding number.
So, the Ukrainians will play in the quarterfinals of the tournament against the Chinese national team.
Challenger Cup 2023. Men. 1/4 of the final
July 28 (Friday)
Qatar - Thailand
Tunisia - Chile
Turkey - Dominican Republic
Ukraine - China
1\2 of the final
July 20 (Saturday)
Qatar / Thailand — Tunisia / Chile
Turkey / Dominican Republic — Ukraine / China
All matches will be held in Doha (Qatar).
Ranking of teams
As of July 26, Ukraine ranks 13th in the world ranking, China is ranked 25th.
The composition of the national team of Ukraine for the match of the Challenger Cup:
setters: Serhii Yevstratov ("Epicenter-Podolyany"), Yurii Sinytsia ("Develi" Turkey);
outside hitters: Oleh Plotnytskyi ("Perugia" Italy), Tymofii Poluian ("Akkus Bld" Turkey), Vitalii Kucher ("Barkom-Kazhany"), Illia Kovalov ("Cuprum" Poland);
liberos: Oleksandr Boiko (VC "Prometey"), Dmytro Kanaiev ("Barkom-Kazhany");
middle blockers: Maksym Drozd ("Epicenter-Podolyany"), Yurii Semeniuk ("Project Warsaw" Poland), Dmytro Teromenko ("Tour" France), Vladyslav Shchurov ("Barkom-Kazhany");
opposites: Vasyl Tupchii ("Barkom-Kazhany"), Yevhenii Kisiliuk ("Epicenter-Podolyany").
Head coach: Uģis Krastiņš.
Assistant coach: Andrii Levchenko.
Assistant coach: Arthurs Tinte.
Scoutman: Volodymyr Bugakov.
Doctor: Ihor Rabkiv.
Challenger Cup-2023. Quarterfinal
July 28 (Friday)
14:00 Ukraine - China
The online broadcast can be viewed on the youtube channel DiviSport.
