The CEV Junior Euro Volley is entering a decisive phase. Italy joined Spain and Turkey to fight for the gold medal. Poland did not take advantage a chance to be in top 4 offering another tournament’s life for Belgium, so Koen Thijs (A Belgian setter) can lead his team to victory.
Pool I – Gdynia
Finland 0 – 3 Belgium (17-25, 22-25, 23-25)
Best scorers: Eelis Karinen 17, Elviss Krastins 9, Karl Kulaots 7; Francois Lecat 19, Jonas Reynders 13, Tomas Rousseaux 10
The Star of the Future Profile: Koen Thijs
Koen Thijs (Belgium, setter) was born in 1993. He is only 192 cm tall, but it is not vital as far as setter is concerned. Thijs prefers very fast and varied volleyball with numerous combinations and schemes. The greatest advantage of this player is a backwards set, which sometimes is deadly for his opponents on the other side of the net. It is said he is the best setter during the Junior Euro Volley, moreover, some people claim Koen Thijs almost ready to play with seniors on the high level.
Italy 3 – 0 Serbia (25-22, 25-13, 25-15)
Best scorers: Sandro Caci 15, Luca Borgogno 13, Enrico Diamanti 9; Uros Kovacevic 12, Aleksandar Blagojevic 8, Aleksandar Okolic 5
Poland 2 – 3 Russia (23-25, 28-26, 17-25, 25-16, 13-25)
Best scorers: Maciej Muzaj 17, Lukasz Lapszyński 16, Piotr Orczyk 14; Sergey Nikitin 20, Ivan Demakov 19, Alexey Kobilev 14
Standings
- Italy 12 Q
- Belgium 11 Q
- Poland 10
- Russia 8
- Serbia 3
- Finland 1
Pool II – Randers
Spain 3 – 0 Bulgaria (25-16, 25-23, 25-20)
Best scorers: Andres Villena 23, Gerard Osorio 11, Juan G. Gonzalez 7; Ivan Ivanov 11, Krasimir Georgiev 9, Petar Nenkov 8
Greece 1 – 3 Turkey (20-25,18-25, 25-18, 22-25)
Best scorers: Georgios Tzioumakas 24, Menelaos Kokkinakis 12, Rafail Koumentakis 10; Burak Gungor 16, Metin Toy 11, Koray Sahin 9
Germany 3 – 1 Denmark (25-12, 25-19, 22-25, 25-14)
Best scorers: Nicolas Marks 18, Yannick Harms 16, Friederich Nagel 11; Thomas Pedersen 10, Bonnesen 10, Rasmus Nilsen 7
Standings
- Spain 14 Q
- Turkey 11 Q
- Bulgaria 10
- Germany 5
- Greece 5
- Denmark 0
SEMI-FINALS
Italy – Turkey
Belgium – Spain
