Stephane Antiga bids farewell to international volleyball – Volleyball news
The 35-year old, French volleyball star Stephane Antiga bid farewell to his international career.
He spent 13 years mainly playing for Men’s National Volleyball Team of France and also helped some other renowned international volleyball clubs.
Currently, he was playing under the flag of Poland’s Skra Belchatow. He held the influential position of France’s Men’s National Volleyball Team Captain and represented his country in almost 254 games. Antiga worked out a great name and repute on account
of his wonderful skills.
In the shoes of a captain of French Men’s National Squad, he put duty and responsibility to his role. He contributed to the overall success of his team. The French team is regarded as two-time CEV European Runner-up, while Antiga was a part of the team.
Moreover, Stephane enabled his team to clinch bronze-ware at the 2002 FIVB Men’s World Championship. The next year, French guys headed to Silver medal at the Men’s European Volleyball Championship. Antiga actively participated in the campaign and helped
his team play in the final showdown.
Antiga’s team competed for the European Title in 2009 and captured the silver medal. He was a member of France’s squad in 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championship, which was hosted by Italy.
The French coach, Philippe Blain was recently interviewed by a local newspaper Le Monde. The coach praised the good work of Antiga. He recognised his abilities and expressed his views about the loss of an important player.
He stated, “You lose a player who has participated in every French medal-winning team of the last decade. He is a very important player for any team and is the dream of any coach. Stephane brought good humour but at the same time, he was always focused and
[gave] 100 per cent.”
Blain further explained that it was not easy decision to make and they both discussed the prospects. The absence of Antiga from the French squad will surely affect their performance, especially when the team is preparing to get the Olympic qualification.
The younger players such as William Samica and Nicolas Marechal are being considered for the captaincy now.
Stephane Antiga served the French Volleyball for a decade and he will be remembered as star player of France.
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