European Golden League-2023. "Final Four". Semifinal

June 24, Saturday

Croatia - Ukraine - 1:3 (23:25, 25:21, 21:25, 12:25)

Starting line-up of the National team of Ukraine: Tupchii (scored 18 points), Shchytkov (1), Semeniuk (10), Teromenko (12), Kovalov (10), Plotnytskyi (13), Kanaiev (l), Boiko (l). Substitutes: Shchurov (0), Poluian (0), Synytsia (3), Kisiliuk (0).

On June 24, the "Final Four" matches of the European Golden League 2023 started in the Croatian city of Zadar.

Turkey and the Czech Republic met in the first semi-final. The winner of the match was determined by a tie-break, and there the volleyball players of the Turkish national team were stronger (3:2 – 22:25, 25:27, 19:25, 25:23, 15:12).

And in the second match of the 1/2 finals, the "blue and yellows" and the hosts of the arena - Ukraine and Croatia - appeared on the court.

The beginning of the match belonged to the Ukrainians: they entered the game powerfully with good serves and effective attacks (11:6). The coach of the Croats, Cedric Enar, immediately had to take a timeout to slow down the pace of our "Cossacks". Sometimes the Croatian volleyball players managed to get close to us in the score (23:22). But there was nothing that could stop Vasyl Tupchii and the company. Dmytro Teromenko put an end to the first set with an attack at the first pace – 25:23.

Then there was a rather difficult second set: the initiative passed to the owners of the court. Instead, the Ukrainians began to make more and more mistakes on the serve (7:9 - 18:20). Although, with a minimal advantage, the Croats were able to end the second set in their favor – 21:25.

Then, perhaps, there was a turning point in the game: an even score (5:5) turned into an advantage for the Croats (9:12). Uģis Krastiņš took a time-out, and later decided to make a substitution - Yurii Sinytsya appeared on the court instead of the setter Vitalii Shchytkov. The coach was not mistaken: Synytsia entered the game well and helped his colleagues to equalize the score (16:16). Gradually, step by step, the Ukrainians were able to move forward (22:20). And, fortunately for the fans of the "blue and yellows", the third set ended in favor of the Ukrainians – 25:21.

The fourth set was the final one. The Ukrainians dominated in all elements of the game: Vasyl Tupchii made aces on the serve, Yurii Synytsia and Illia Kovalov skillfully blocked, and many errors from the Croats only doubled the score on the scoreboard (9:2). The team of Uģis Krastiņš dominated and confidently went to victory in the match and to reach the finals. The final point was made by the Ukrainians with a spectacular block - 25:12 and 3:1 in the end.

As a result, the National volleyball team of Ukraine made it to the finals of the tournament and received an invitation to play in the Challenger Cup, the winner of which will get the right to play in the Nations League 2024. This tournament will be held at the end of July.

So, on June 25 at 21:00 Kyiv time, Ukraine will play against Turkey in the final of the European Golden League 2023.

Watch online broadcasts of all matches involving the men's and women's national teams of Ukraine on the YouTube channel DIVISPORT.