Press release
Undefeated China and host Turkey to play for the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth title
In front of 4,700 fans at Baskent Sports Hall in Ankara, host Turkey celebrate their hard-fought five-set victory over Serbia
Ankara, Turkey, August 20, 2011 – Unbeaten and three-time champions China and host Turkey will play for gold at the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship after claiming hard-fought victories at Baskent Sports Hall in Ankara on Saturday evening.
World No. 13 China behind the leadership of Ting Zhu and strong setter Bei Wu outlasted Poland in the second semifinal for the 1-4 positions 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20) despite the strong effort of the Polish side led by the skilled captain Iga Chojnacka.
The best of the show, however, was reserved for the first semifinal duel in front of 4,700 ecstatic fans at Baskent Sports Hall where the Turkish side overpowered Serbia 3-2 (25-14, 14-25, 25-17, 20-25, 16-14) in a thrilling five-setter.
Serbia’s Nikolina Lukic topped the scores with 26 points while Mina Popovic and Natasa Cikiriz registered 13 and 11 points respectively for Serbia. Turkish captain Damla Cakiroglu finished with a match-high 14 points. Two other Turkish players compiled double digits in the scoring charts with Kubra Akman and Ece Hocaoglu notching twelve points each. The Serbians held the upper hand in the attacking category (43-36) while Turkey edged their opponents 10-9 in the aces department.
In the matches scheduled on Sunday, Germany take on defending champions Brazil for the fifth position and Japan will meet Argentina for the seventh place following the victories on Saturday. Also, USA play Slovakia for ninth place and Italy face Mexico for the 11th position.
Results
Positions 1-4
Serbia (9) v Turkey (5) – 2-3 (14-25, 25-14, 17-25, 25-20, 14-16)
China (13) v Poland (29) – 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20)
Positions 5-8
Germany (7) v Japan (4) – 3-1 (26-24, 25-14, 24-26, 25-21)
Brazil (1) v Argentina (19) – 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-14, 15-10)
Positions 9-12
USA (2) v Mexico (10) – 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-20)
Italy (12) v Slovakia (28) – 0-3 (23-25, 24-26, 22-25)
Positions 13-16
Thailand (14) v Algeria (17) – 3-0 (25-17, 25-8, 25-10)
Puerto Rico (21) v Egypt (10) – 2-3 (16-25, 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 8-15)
Positions 1-4
Host Turkey outlast Serbia in marathon semifinal
Turkey vs. Serbia 3-2 (25-14, 14-25, 25-17, 20-25, 16-14)
In front of 4,700 thrilled fans, host Turkey scored a hard-fought victory over Serbia in a highly competitive five-set semifinal (25-14, 14-25, 25-17, 20-25, 16-14) to advance to the gold medal match at the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship at Baskent Sports Hall in Ankara, Turkey on Sunday. In their fourth international duel this year, Turkey improved their record to 3-1 with today’s win. Serbia had won the European Olympic Youth Festival semifinal in Trabzon (Turkey) in July while Turkey prevailed two times at 2011 CEV Girls' Youth European Championship in May. In the deciding fifth period, player of the match Lukic soared for a spike to make it 2-0 for Serbia, before Turkey fought back valiantly with a spectacular block from Seyma Ercan on Natasa Cikiriz to level at 4-4. Compared to the four previous sets, there was nothing to separate the two teams in the fifth set. Popovic hammered the Mikasa down for an 8-6 Serbian lead at changeover. Then Turkish captain Damla Cakiroglu blasted another from the left wing for 9-10 before Ece Hocaoglu tied the score at 10-10. Serbia appeared on the edge of defeat with Turkey scoring relentless to turn the tables at 13-10. Lukic kept the Serbian hopes alive with a spike to 13-13. Then Turkey had a first match ball after Popovic sent her service out of bounds, but Lukic hammered back from the left. The hosts got their second chance at 15-14. Cakiroglu’s serve was called in by the referees, bouncing the Turkish team as well as 4,700 flipping fans to heaven.
China beat Poland in four to reach final versus Turkey
China vs. Poland 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20)
Unbeaten China scored a convincing victory over Poland in a hard-hitting four-set semifinal (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20) to challenge host Turkey in Sunday’s (17:30 local time) gold medal match. A 14-8 lead in the third set was not enough for Poland to conclude, offering China the chance to bounce back strongly. It will be China’s fourth final match at Girls’ Youth World Championships since 2001 with a considerable 3-0 win-loss record. On the other hand, Poland has their second chance for medals of honors after bronze 2001 in Pula, Croatia. For China Ting Zhu and Wang registered 17 and 13 points respectively while Weiwei Li added twelve to the winning effort. The Asians were particularly effective at the net where they recorded 20 blocks including six from Li and four from Wang. Poland's Paulina Glaz and captain Iga Chojnacka compiled 16 and 14 points respectively.
Serbia coach Milan Grsic: “It’s difficult to play in an atmosphere like that. The match was very exciting, but not on the highest level. The players are too young to deal with this kind of situation.â€
Turkey captain Damla Cakiroglu: “For sure I’m very happy. It was the most important and difficult match today. Both teams experienced many ups and downs. At the end, we were a little bit luckier.â€
Positions 5-8
Germany see off Japan in four sets
Germany vs. Japan 3-1 (26-24, 25-14, 24-26, 25-21)
Germany came away with a 3-1 victory (26-24, 25-14, 24-26, 25-21) against Japan in their semifinal match for the 5-8 positions at Ankara Baskent Sports Hall on Saturday morning. The Germans prevailed over a solid Japan team who just couldn’t seem to find their rhythm. Leading the German scoring was Susanne Besa with 19 points, while captain Jennifer Geerties and Lisa Izquierdo added 16 and 15 respectively. Japan’s top scorer on the day was Kasumi Nakaya who posted 13. Germany dominated at the net, scoring with 52 attacks and eight blocks.
Germany coach Jens Tietböhl: “It’s always a great performance to beat Japan; they never give up. Today libero Anna Pogany brought stability back in our service reception. We are very happy to finish amongst the best six teams of the world.â€
Japan coach Ichiro Hanzawa: “I put too much pressure on our passers during timeouts and set breaks. They felt confused. However, Germany served very well today. They gave us a hard time to organize our offensive play.â€
Brazil top Argentina in hard-fought South American duel
Brazil vs. Argentina 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-14, 15-10)
World No. 1 Brazil proved too strong for Argentina by winning a very hard-fought 5-8 semifinal thriller in five sets (21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-14, 15-10) against a strong Argentinian team. As a consequence, Brazil will face Germany in their battle for the fifth place while Argentina play Japan in the race for the seventh rank. Leading Brazil, as she has all tournament, was Gabriela who put up 29 points. Rosamaria and Valquiria registered 16 and 14 respectively for the winning side. Brazil’s team had an advantage in attacking, 68-50. Argentina were led by captain Priscila Bosio with 20. Maria Sol Calvete added 15 points.
Brazil coach Mauricio Thomas: “We knew that Argentina would be a tough opponent today. Derbies always have a special character. It was important for us to win today after Thursday’s loss versus Japan.â€
Positions 9-12
USA overpower fighting Mexico to battle for the ninth position
USA v Mexico 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-20)
USA took on the fighting Mexico team in straight sets (26-24, 25-17, 25-20) in the playoff match for the 13 to 16 positions at the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship at Ankara Arena on Saturday. As usual USA captain Mallory McCage led her team scorers with 13 points gained in this match, while the most successful players of Mexico were Alejandra Isiordia and Samantha Bricio with eight points each. After this victory USA will play for 9th place while Mexico will fight for 11th place of the Championship. "I didn't have much expectation in this tournament,†said the USA Coach James Stone. “We have been together for a very short of time and our players are inexperienced with the international competitions. Mexico is a very good team. I saw them playing and practicing in style. This was a very competitive match.†He added.
Outstanding Slovakia surprise Italy in three sets
Slovakia v Italy 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-22)
Slovakia surprised the out of form Italians with a straight sets victory (25-23, 26-24, 25-22) in 79 minutes in the play off 9 to 12 positions. Slovakia qualified to play for the 9th and 10th places against USA while Italy now will seek only 11 or 12 finish in this disappointing tournament for them when they field against Mexico. Slovakia emerged with their extra ordinary defensive power throughout the match and succeeded to build up the attacks through their strong outside hitter specially the match star Miroslava Rehakova who was her team best scorer with 14 points with the usual role of the opposite Nikola Pistelakova.
''We played much better than Italy,'' says Slovakia coach Eva Kosekova. ''We played well at block and defense and those factors were the key to win this match. We are happy to win.''
Positions 13-16
Thailand back to winning ways against Algeria
Thailand v Algeria 3-0 (25-17, 25-8, 25-10)
The more passionate Thailand team sealed a straight sets victory over the calm Algerians (25-17, 25-8, 25-10) in only 59 minutes in their playoff match at Ankara Arena. After losing against Slovakia in their last match of the second round, the Thais were more motivated to win the match that finished easily to their side after the complete domination of the net action throughout the match. Preeya Hindum and Ajcharaporn Kongyot were Thailand’s scorers with 12 points each, while Louiza Bayou was the best in the Algerian side with only 5. With this victory Thailand acquired the right to fight for the 13th place on Sunday against Egypt, while Algeria will have a chance to play in the match for 15-16th places of the Championship with Puerto Rico. "Algeria is team for future, they have a potential to be a good team in the future." Said Thailand coach Jarun Niemtuptim. “We are happy to win and we are looking forwards to win the 13th position.''
Egypt prevail in close-fought contest with Puerto Rico
Egypt v Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-16, 19-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-8)
Egypt middle blocker Aya Elshamy and outside hitter Mai Moustafa came up with the goods to their team at the end of a five set Marathon against Puerto Rico as they guided their team to 3-2 victory (25-16, 19-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-8) over Puerto Rico in the playoff match for 13 to 16 positions. The Egyptian duo of El Shamy and Moustafa played the key role as they scored a tally of 34 points constituting more than 30% of the team’s total to lead their colleagues to the valuable victory. This victory granted to Egypt right to play for the 13th place match of the Championship, while Puerto Rico could compete only in 15-16 brackets. The best player in Puerto Rico's team was their captain Daly Santana who scored 24 points during the match, while among the winners the best scorer was Mai Moustafa with 18 points.
"The high spirit made us victorious in this match" said Egypt coach Ahmed Fathy. “We succeeded to finish this match in the proper way because we lost many matches here while we were able to win. Today we came back on time in the fourth set and then the tiebreak."
Match schedule for Sunday, August 21
Gold medal match: China (13) v Turkey (5) at 17.30
Bronze medal match: Poland (29) v Serbia (9) at 15.00
Positions 5-6: Germany (7) v Brazil (1) at 13.00
Positions 7-8: Japan (4) v Argentina (19) at 11.00
Positions 9-10: USA (2) v Slovakia (28) at 15.30
Positions 11-12: Italy (12) v Mexico (10) at 13.30
Positions 13-14: Thailand (14) v Egypt (10) at 11.30
Positions 15-16: Puerto Rico (21) v Algeria (17) at 9.30
Tournament Top Scorers
1. Gabriela (Brazil) 140
2. Cikiriz Natasa (Serbia) 106
3. Busa Bianka (Serbia) 105
4. Rosamaria (Brazil) 96
5. Jennifer Geerties (Germany) 94
Highest Set Score
33-31 (USA v THA in Pool G) played on August 17
Highest Scoring Match
220 points (BRA v SRB in Pool F) played on August 16
Longest Match
141 minutes (BRA v SRB in Pool F) played on August 16
FIVB TV
In another great step of media coverage on www.fivb.org, the final matches will be streamed live on FIVB TV. Please visit: www.laola1.tv.
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