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Greece and Serbia & Montenegro clinch tickets to Japan

Larissa, Greece, July 19, 2005 – World League runner’s up Serbia and Montenegro and world number nine Greece are sailing in a sea of happiness after both teams advanced to the finals of the 2006 Men's World Championship, which will be held in Japan in November 2006 on day two of the European third Round tournament - Pool J in Larissa.

Serbia and Montenegro, ranked third in the world, followed their opening day win over Turkey (3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21)) with a straight sets (30-28, 25-15, 25-20) victory over Portugal to guarantee themselves a top two finish and a ticket to Japan. Greece secured similar results, beating Portugal 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-21, 15-12) on the opening day before overcoming Turkey 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 29-27) on Tuesday.
Pic: Greece's Vasileios Kournetas receives
Serbia and Montenegro and Greece will now play on Wednesday to decide who wins the tournament while Portugal and Turkey will play to see who play in the playoff for another chance to gain a ticket to the final round.

Brimming with happiness, the President of the Hellenic Volleyball Federation, Thanassis Beligratis, extended a warm thank you to the 4,000 fans in Larissa for their support of the Greek team and the City of Larissa for its hospitality. President Beligratis promised that Larissa will host World League matches next year.

President Beligratis also commented on the behaviour of the Greek fans, who put aside the traditional antagonism between Greece and Turkey and at no point during their match did they provoke or jeer the Turkish team or fans. "This antagonism belongs to the long gone past," he said.