Press release

Belgrade, Serbia, October 1, 2011. Serbia and Germany both claimed tickets to the first volleyball qualifying event for the 2012 Olympic Games – the FIVB World Cup in Japan in November – after reaching the final of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women on Saturday in front of 8,500 spectators at the SC Pionir sports hall in Belgrade.

With the winners and the best four second-placed teams (based on the FIVB World Ranking of Jan 15) across the five continental championships qualifying for the World Cup, Serbia (ranked ninth) and Germany (10th) are assured of a spot at the World Cup regardless of the finishing order.

After two consecutive titles at CEV Volleyball European Championships, Germany ended the Italian winning streak by beating the “squadra azzurra” in straight sets (25-22, 25-22, 25-17) in the first semifinal, marking the biggest success for Germany since the German reunification. Best scorer of the match was Angelina Grün with 17 kills, while Italy’s top scorer was Carolina Costagrande with 13 points.

In the second semifinal, with men’s tennis No. 1 Novak Dojokovic looking on, the hosts overpowered Turkey to come out in top in a five-set thriller 3-2 (25-10, 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 15-12) after 124 minutes of play.

Serbia will challenge unbeaten Germany in Sunday’s gold medal match, while Turkey will fight for bronze versus Italy.

Schedule for Sunday, October 2, 2011:
15.00 (local time) - bronze medal match - Italy v Turkey
18.00 (local time) - gold medal match - Serbia v Germany

The FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup 2011 will take place in Japan from November 4 to 18 with the top three then qualifying for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

For more info visit www.cev.lu