2006 World Championships   More World Championship news       Tournament info: Turkey

Netherlands and Turkey advance to final round

Ankara, Turkey, August 6, 2005 - The Netherlands and Turkey beat Belgium and Ukraine on Saturday to book their places in the final round of the 2006 Women's World Championships in Japan after guaranteeing themsleves a top two spot at the European third round tournament EUR-H. Belgium and Ukraine will now play a crucial match on Sunday's final day in order to take part in the play-offs in Bulgaria. The winning team will play against Poland and Bulgaria there for the last ticket to Japan.

In the first match, the Netherlands beat Belgium 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 24-26, 25-8, 19-17) in a hard fought five-setter thriller. Selinger Avital said that they won thanks to their experience.

In the second match, Turkey beat Ukraine 3-2 (26-24, 17-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-10) in a great atmosphere. Yaziciogullari Resat stated that they were very proud, and thanked his players for their great efforts and to the spectators for their support. Fýlýshtynskyy Igor wished Turkey luck in Japan and said that they wanted to go there, too.