France beats Russia in semi-final – 2011 CEV Boys Youth European Championship
France outshone Russia in the semi-final of 2011 CEV Boys’ Youth European Championship on Saturday, April 23.
The Baskent Sports Hall in Ankara, Turkey hosted the thrilling 5-set match. The title-holder French team posted 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 16-25, 20-25, and 15-11) victory over Russian counterparts. The 2009 bronze medallist Russian team received a consecutive defeat
from France. In the previous robin round match, France broke the 4-match winning streak of Russia.
The Russian side opened the match on a good note. They threw long jump-serves and hit nice shots, which earned them early points. France started off with slow action and took time to grasp the game plan of opponents.
France scored only one point, while Russia took a lead of four points (5-1). Gradually, France attained the right tone and hit back Russia with prolific shots. French setter, Antoine Brizard did a great job in floating the ball in air with perfect timing.
Moreover, Thibaud Brossard helped France to overcome the power of Russians. The first set finally ended in France’s favour at 25-23.
With the confidence of the first set, France kicked off the second set with convincing shots. The boys of head coach Jean-Manuel came strong of opponents and pushed them behind the attack line. The good opening put France in lead with the score of 8-5.
Meanwhile, Russian spikers put up a valiant effort and managed to take lead at the second technical timeout (16-15). However, France did not take any pressure and continued with point-scoring shots. The spirited effort of France allowed them to surpass Russia
at 21-19. Afterwards, Russia could add only two points, while France achieved the set point and claimed second set.
Russia was totally fired-up with the loss of two sets in a row. They threw everything in attack in the third set and built a strong lead in early few minutes. Pavel Pankov of Russia was highly praised for his excellent blocks. Russia came out of blues and
took the game away from France. The scoreboard showed an 8-point lead of Russia at the second technical break. Stanislav Masliev helped Russia to seal third-set victory (25-15).
The success in third set restored Russian players’ confidence. They tried to remain on the same course. Nonetheless, the French side experience an anger wave. The fourth set saw a great rivalry between two teams. The score tied at 6-all and then at 13-13.
The game continued till the end. Russia got better in the latter half of the set and pushed their rivals behind. France lost momentum and received the loss of another set (20-25).
Russia made a great comeback and tied the game score at 2-2. It seemed as if they had got their form back. Anyhow, France bounced back in the game in final set of the game and crushed Russia’s dream to play in the final match. Russia received 11-15 defeat,
while France booked a slot in the final match.
The Russian captain said that they committed a lot of reception errors, which led them to defeat. In the meanwhile, the mentor of Russian team Vladimir Kondra praised the good work of French boys.
He congratulated them for their amazing win and stated, “We probably lost the game two days ago when my players lacked concentration after three easy wins. This gave France some confidence.”
On the other hand, the team captain of France Trevor Clevenot expressed his views after the match. He said, “It was a tough game with good moments on both sides. Finally we were a lit bit cleverer in the fifth set.”
Jean-Manuel Leprovost, the head coach of French side was satisfied with his team’s performance. He urged them to keep up the same energy in the next match.
France is joined by Serbian team in the final showdown on Sunday, April 24, while Russia will once again compete for bronze medal in the match against Bulgaria. France is totally shaped up to defend the title. Similarly, Russia will never want to lose the
third slot in the ranking. It would be interesting to watch these two influential matches at the weekend.
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