Luxembourg, 9th January 2008. Germany and Serbia were off to a decisive start in their first match in Izmir to win an Olympic ticket. Poland, after its defeat against Spain on the first day, beat the Italian team in three sets and made its way back in Pool A.

The first match of this second day saw Serbia clearly win 3 to 0 against Finland. The Finnish players couldn’t resist against the pressure of the Serbian team, 3rd in the last European Championships. Except for the first set barely won by Serbia 26-24, Finland could not find an opening and now register one victory and one loss in pool B.

During the press conference, the Finnish coach said “We will do everything to stay until the end of the tournament, and if a team must beat us again, it will have to kill us first.”

Poland on the other hand did not miss its second match in Pool A. After its quick defeat against Spain on the first competition day (2-3), the Polish players confirmed their ambition to acquire a ticket to Beijing by beating the Italian team which wasn’t always focused and repositionning itself in the run.

The last match of the day opposed the team of Turkey to Germany which was making its debut in the competition. Starting in the first set, the Germans took the advantage against the host team and win 25-20. But strongly supported by its public, Turkey got over it and went on to win the next two sets, hoping to win the match. That was however without counting on the determination and efficient blocks of the German players who fought to win the fourth, then fifth and decisive set, thus gaining an important victory in the tournament.

Results

Pool A

POL – ITA  3 : 0   25:20 26:24 25:21

Ranking as per 9.01.2008:

1. POL (1-1, sets ratio 1.667), 2. ITA (1-1, sets ratio 1.000), 3. ESP (1-0), 4. NED (0-1)

Pool B

SRB - FIN  3 : 0   26:24 25:23 25:18

GER – TUR  3 : 2   25:20 17:25 21:25 25:19 15:12

Ranking as per 9.01.2008:

1. FIN (1-1), 2. SRB (1-0, sets ratio max.), 3. GER (1-0, sets ratio 1.500). 4. TUR (0-2)

Matches to be played today:

15:30 ITA - ESP

18:30 SRB - GER

20:30 NED - POL

TV program available on www.cev.lu