On June 25, the women's national team of Ukraine will play its first European League semi-final match in six years. Our girls' opponents at this distance will be volleyball players from the Czech Republic.
The fate of the ticket to the finals will be determined by the results of the two-match confrontation. The debut meeting of the teams in this year's draw of the competition will take place at the nominally home arena of the blue-yellow team in the Romanian city of Piatra Neamts. Start at 18:00.
European Golden League-2023. Women. The first semi-final game
Pyatra-Neamts (Polyvalent Hall). Romania
June 25. 18:00
Ukraine (12 in the Euro rating) — Czech Republic (10 in the Euro rating)
European League regulations:
At the first stage of the European Golden League-2023, nine national teams were divided equally into three groups, where they played according to the round-robin system: A) Belgium, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina; C) Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania; C) Ukraine, France, Hungary.
The three winners of the groups and the best team among the second places have qualified for the semi-finals. At this stage, the pairs were formed according to the following principle: the team with the highest rating (Belgium) will play with the national team that passed from the second position (Sweden). At the same time, the winners of other groups — the Czech Republic and Ukraine — will meet in a parallel duel.
The teams will determine the finalists, and subsequently the winners, based on the results of two matches (home/away). The two best teams of the European Golden League 2023 will take part in the Candidates' Cup, a qualifying tournament for the League of Nations.
Let's add that Bosnia and Herzegovina was relegated to the Silver Euroleague this season, having scored only one point in the group stage.
Path to the semi-finals:
The national team of Ukraine
Ivan Petkov's players started the group stage with matches against Hungary. Both, by the way, took place on the court of the opponents in Budapest. Despite this, they managed to achieve the maximum result (two victories and six points), which made a serious bid to reach the semi-finals.
Next, the Ukrainians were waiting for a battle with the current winners of the tournament, the French team. To continue the fight for the main trophy, our athletes had one victory left. And they won it in their next game.
The final round no longer had any tournament significance for both sides, because Emile Rousseaux's wards lost even the mathematical chances of defending the title. The coaching staff of the National team of Ukraine, taking into account these circumstances, the coach let the captain - Svitlana Dorsman - get some rest. Uliana Kotar played instead. In addition, during the meeting, other players of the reserve got a chance to show their game, in particular Viktoriia Oliinyk and Viktoriia Danchak.
The results of the games in Group C
Hungary — Ukraine 1-3 (25:22, 25:27, 9:25, 23:25)
Ukraine — Hungary 3-1 (25:17, 22:25, 25:15, 26:24)
France — Hungary 1-3 (20:25, 25:19, 22:25, 23:25)
Hungary — France 1-3 (20:25, 25:14, 15:25, 22:25)
Ukraine — France 3-1 (25:21, 25:17, 17:25, 25:11)
France — Ukraine 3-1 (25:18, 21:25, 25:16, 25:21)
The national team of the Czech Republic
The Czech national team was the favorite of Group B. They confirmed this status already in the debut match against Slovakia. However, in the second, the representatives of this country sensationally conceded to the Romanians on their own court in Zlin.
The aforementioned failure somewhat affected the psychological state of the Czechs. After that, they lost the first set of the return match to Romania - 25:16. However, coach Ioannis Athanasopoulos was able to find the right words for his players during the break. And in the end, they managed to make a comeback, winning the next three sets.
In the final round, the Czech Republic beat Slovakia for the second time and eventually took the first place in Group B.
Results of matches in Group B
Romania — Slovakia 1-3 (22:25, 12:25, 25:19, 18:25)
Czech Republic — Slovakia 3-1 (25:16, 22:25, 25:20, 25:11)
Czech Republic — Romania 1-3 (17:25, 25:15, 18:25, 18:25)
Romania — Czech Republic 1-3 (25:16, 23:25, 26:28, 13:25)
Slovakia — Czech Republic 0-3 (15:25, 20:25, 19:25)
Slovakia — Romania 3-1 (25:18, 25:18, 19:25, 25:23)
Previous meetings:
In recent history, the paths of the teams crossed precisely in the European Golden League. In 2019, they got into the same group, where they were joined by the national teams of Slovakia and Sweden.
Last season, the teams exchanged victories: at first, the Czechs achieved success in a meeting — 3-1 (25:14, 27:29, 25:18, 25:17), but soon the blue and yellows took a confident revenge — 3-0 (25: 14, 25:21, 25:18).
Unfortunately, it was the rivals who made it to the "final four", ahead of our team by only one point. Interestingly, the Czech national team won the tournament.
Schedule of semi-final matches:
The first semi-final games will take place on June 25, and the return matches on June 28.
June 25
Lund (Sparbanken Skåne Arena). Sweden
16:00 Sweden - Belgium
Pyatra-Neamts (Polyvalent Hall). Romania
18:00 Ukraine - Czech Republic
June 28
Camp (Sport Hall Mír). Czech Republic
19:00 Czech Republic — Ukraine
Ruselare (Tomabel Hall). Belgium
21:00 Belgium — Sweden
Watch the video of the online broadcast on the YouTube channel DIVISPORT.
