CEV U20 European Championship - 2016 | 9 | 2

    Quote from TimHH

    I would still add turkish player Abdullah Cam (OPP).


    I didnt mention Cam as he is among 12 in Galatasaray for 2 years ;) From Turkey I forgot to mention Lagumdžija, OH.


    Quote from TimHH

    Poland just played on a different level than the german team. Once they got their rhythm, there was nothing the german team could do. No further analyze needed.....


    Poles were extra motivated today, just like were in Frankfurt in qualies. Simply Germans didn't know what happened to them, stunning win for Poland and 23th win in a row. This Polish generation never lost a single match, official of course :whistle: :teach:


    Big comeback for Italy :obey: they were nowhere for 2,5 sets. Once again Totire is being really cunning, @1:5 in 3rd set he ordered all players to serve only float's. Russians were totally confused :rolll: Probably we'll have Poland - Russia clash in SF, Italy have open route to the gold medal match :whistle:


    I'm really sorry for the Frenchs after losing 3rd match in 5 setter... Still, they have chance to advance to "small" semifinals but chances are slim..

    Tim said France needs better setter.. I'm surprised with Trillon's choice to put Meyer as a starting setter. Moreover coz Fran Novotni Kašić rarely got playing time despite he had some good matches in Cannes last season and bigger experience than Meyer


    Abdullah Cam has been playing in Halkbank, not Galatasaray. Lagumdzija is indeed an interesting player and only 17 years old. This generation is not as good as 95-96 generation but still there are a few talented players. I am quite surprised that they were beaten by Serbia, which got only 8th place in U19 tournament of this generation.

    I watched Poland vs Germany. Before the match I was thinking Germany are big candidates for SFs, so this match would be determining the top place of the pool. Well, totally didn't expect such a quick win for Poland.


    For me, two reasons contributed to Deutschen's collapse. Actually in the first set those guys played quite well, they were leading in the first half of the 1st set. But they couldn't handle Huber's serve... Huber is the only float server on Polish team and normally float serves are not as powerful as jump. Anyways, I believe it was Balster who messed up the passing and Germany lost 5 points in a row and most likely lost themselves in the remaining of the match. Another reason might be the opposite, Auste stayed only a brief period in the 1st and 3rd set. To me he was not too bad, because his sub Moennich played really badly. Opposites are supposed to be reliable attackers in their teams, but Moennich made so many faults.


    Krick is definitely a player to watch. When a 210cm player standing in front of you, even Kochanowski cannot ignore the block. Another one is Bogachev - he has pretty decent serves and attacking skills on the left. Actually he was the player who gave Germany the 2 points lead in the 1st set. I'm a big fan of his selfies on Instagram. (BTW why does he label himself as Russian?)


    Pool I has a very interesting situation per se. Poland should have no problem to secure a spot in final 4, but the other spot is open to Bulgaria, Ukraine and Deutschland, who are directly competing each other in the next two game days!

    Watching Bulgaria vs. Germany, i actually see a good chance for Ukraine to grab the second place. Not really good level, especially from the german team.


    Bulgaria plays quite "un-bulgarian". Lots of floats and tips, visibly trying to minimize risks and errors. And, in fact, that looks like a good tactic for today....

    Ukraine's 3-0 win over Germany today makes life hard for the young Bulgarians... They didn't receive the support they had needed from the Germans, now Bulgaria needs a 3-point win against Poland. Which almost 100% means that this Ukrainian win guarantees them a semifinal spot and that either Poland or Bulgaria will leave the battle for the gold. Based on performance and recent history, we can say Bulgaria needs a small miracle or some bombastic performance today. Or otherwise players and staff, above all Vlado Nikolov, should regret not exploiting that 2-0 lead against Ukraine on the opening day. Even a 3-2 victory then would've been enough for a semifinal spot now...

    Ukraine already secured semifinal spot. If Bulgaria wins 3:0 or 3:1 Poland is out, any other result leads Poland in semifinal. I bet they are going to crack under pressure as usual. Clear Polish win.


    But I have to say sth about Ukraine. In qualies they won only 3 out of 6 matches, clinched ticket to Plovdiv because they had better set ration than Spain and Romania, and now playing in semifinals. Plotnytskyi, their key player, joined team just 3 days before departure to Bulgaria because he played on European U22 beach championship. 2nd OH Poluian have been injured entire preparation period and he was doubtful to play in Bulgarian. In qualies they have been "error" machines. I remember 42 mistakes vs Slovenia (1:3) and 38 vs Germany (1:3) but here service is working perfectly for them. Plotnytskyi scored 22 aces in 5 matches :obey: they are "beach" team as Poluian/Viietskyi won bronze medal on CEV U19 beach champ'ship a year ago.

    Pool matches are over, tomorrow is rest day and on Friday semifinals are starting.


    5th-8th places


    Germany - Serbia
    Bulgaria -Turkey


    1st-4th places


    Poland - Russia
    Italy- Ukraine


    I'm really looking forward to see Poland - Russia, heavyweight match in SF's and should be a firework :super: Italy is a clear-cut favs over Ukraine, there will be huge pressure on Italians but IMO they are class above Plotnytskyi & co.


    Serbs won 3 matches in Varna, all 3 in 5th set and took advantage of CEV rules to finish above Turkey because they have 3wins. Germans had have a lot of problems in group, bad efficiency is their biggest problem while Serbs have 3 high-profilic strikers in Mehić, Buša and Kujundžić :whistle: It's hard to predict winner between Bulgaria and Turkey. In general the Turks have bigger quality, Bulgarians home field advantage but both teams should be disappointed after failing to reach semifinals.

    Quote from Kaziyski

    Germans had have a lot of problems in group, bad efficiency is their biggest problem


    I am quite disappointed by the performance in the last matches. It is not about loosing these matches but rather the way they played. They lacked every fundamental of the game, starting with the right attitude. If they present like this in the next Bundesliga season it is going to be a long and dire season. Highest time to grow a pair....

    Nice and consistent performance by Poland! I really like to watch that Poland were playing like a team that everyone was making their best possible contribution to the victory. On the other side, really amazing serves by Symeshev! I kind of underestimated how much trouble his serves may bring to Poland. Anyways, I'm really glad the red-and-white boys handled it really well in the end.


    The second SF was like a roller-coaster. I guess the whole match could be just highlighted in the last 6 points. Ukraine was trailing 8-13 and Plotnytskyi stepped to the service line, and six rally later everyone was shocked by Ukrainian's 15-13 win. I literally could smell Italy's coach's desperation as he was sorrowing and squatting by the court. I think Polish boys must be warned. Even though Poland had an easy win in the preliminary round, the story might be different tomorrow.


    Is Plotnytskyi playing in any major leagues? I saw that he played in Rio in beach volleyball (another shocking fact to me). I won't be surprised if he's the next rising star.

    Oh, I can't believe it ;( ;(


    Italy lost 15-13 at tie break after leading 13-8 ;( ;(


    Amazing serve runs by Ukraine (sorry, I didn't catch the player/players) at the end of the fourth set (2-1 and 22-20 for Italy, then 24-22 for Ukraine that eventually won the set 26-24) and then in the tie break from 8 to 15 (even if with less direct points) :white:


    Both were strong jump-serve, not float, so it's impressive they keep serving well in such crucial moments without mistakes.


    I think Plotyntskyi was on service line in 4th set as well. Totire lost this match as he never should allow Plotnytskyi serving more tha twice in a row. He was just watching run from 13:9 to 13:11 but it was too late. Ukraine 18 (!!!!!) ACES, Plotnytskyi 8 but he had 30 serves :obey: Italy 19 reception errors :aww: Ukraine is the best serving team Ive seen on junior ECH in my life

    Quote from Martee

    Is Plotnytskyi playing in any major leagues? I saw that he played in Rio in beach volleyball (another shocking fact to me). I won't be surprised if he's the next rising star.


    Plotnytskyi plays in Lokomotiv Kharkiv but surely wont stay there too long :whistle: About Ukraine and their road to ECH you can make movie. They cliched spot on ECH only because of better set ration than Spain and Romania in 3rd qualifying round. They lost to Germany 1:3 with 38 errors, 1:3 to SLovenia with 42. Poluian, 2nd OH, missed almost entire preparation period due injury and joined team 4 days before 1st match in Bulgaria. Plotnytskyi joined even later, just 2 days before flight to Bulgaria as he was playing on CEV U22 Beach volley champ'ship.

    Quote from Kaziyski

    Totire lost this match as he never should allow Plotnytskyi serving more tha twice in a row


    Probably you're right, but I must admit that Plotnyskyi didn't seemed to be that affected by the time outs xD


    BTW I guess it was him both times, if he did 8 aces...


    When at the end of the 4th set the MB Russo (n19) was put in to serve (jump-float) and did an ace at 23-24 (I think), I though we could grab the set and the match, how silly I was... ;(

    Quote from Kk15

    Probably you're right, but I must admit that Plotnyskyi didn't seemed to be that affected by the time outs xD


    Trust me I'm right :) if TO doesn't work you can always change some less important player, for example MB because Sbertoli rarely used MB's, in crucial moments never. So timeout + substitution is ideal move when big serve comes on service line. Or like Alekno did in CL finals vs SKRA, called both TO's in a row. Zenit came from 12:14 to 16:14 as I remember. I have high opinion on Totire but he made several mistakes (IMO ofc). Sbertoli was too predictable, UKR block concentrated on wing spikers, and instead several attack in a row over Galassi or DI Martino he was "filling" wingers.