Challenger Cup-2023. Quarterfinal

July 28. Doha, Qatar

Ukraine — China 3-1 (25:19, 25:22, 23:25, 25:19)

The players of Uģis Krastiņš confirmed their status as favorites in the quarter-final match against Chinese volleyball players. The game ended with a 3-1 victory for the blue and yellow teams. Now, in the semi-finals of the Challenger Cup, they will meet the winners of the pair Turkey - Dominican Republic.

It was the Ukrainians who seized the initiative from the start. The Chinese tried their best to restrain their opponents, so the gap between the teams was minimal — 3:2, 5:4. However, our team gained momentum with each new rally, and soon the attacks of Vasyl Tupchii and Dmytro Teromenko helped them increase the margin - 7:4.

Then Oleh Plotnytskyi strengthened the success of his partners with a single block, and the ace of Yurii Sinytsia doubled our advantage - 14:7. Very soon, the national team of Ukraine had as many as six set balls, one of which was managed to be realized on the second attempt — 25:19. 

The next set was similar to the previous one in terms of the score (5:4) and the development of events on the court. Once again, thanks to the organized block, the Ukrainians broke the attacking potential of their opponents. Due to this the latter significantly slipped and struggled to score points  - 11:6.

At the equator of the set, our athletes, through their own mistakes, allowed China to return to this match - 11:9. After the time-out of the Latvian specialist Uģis Krastiņš, the teams exchanged local spurts, but the +2 handicap remained between them. Despite the nervousness, the representatives of Ukraine still beat their competitors - 25:22.

For the first time in this match, the Chinese first broke away by two points (2:4), and then by a total of four - 3:7. It was also noticeable that our players lost concentration, perhaps prematurely believing in a general triumph - 6:10. Thanks to the efforts of Oleh Plotnytskyi, who successfully completed the combination, and already in the next episode scored an ace, we managed to reduce the gap - 11:13.

Then the teams alternately exchanged effective attacks for a long time. However, at the crucial moment, our captain spoke again with a strong serve - 17:19, knocking the opponents out of the reception and eventually equalizing the parity. Unfortunately, the last words were left to the rivals anyway — 23:25.

Chinese volleyball players, inspired by their previous success, continued to dictate their conditions on the court — 3:6. Krastiņš took advantage of a 30-second break, during which he drew his players' attention to the lack of aggressiveness in the attack. They heard their mentor and, despite the desperate defense of the Chinese, managed to turn the tide of the confrontation - 14:12.

At the same time, confidence returned to the blue-yellow team. On this wave of positivity, they led the meeting to a well-deserved victory - 25:19. Oleh Plotnytskyi became the best scorer of the match with 24 points.

The starting line-up of the national team of Ukraine: Tupchii (18), Synytsia (4), Semeniuk (8), Teromenko (15), Kovalov (6), Plotnytskyi (24), Boiko (l). Substitutes: Poluian.