Bengaluru, Dec 9: Defending champions Sir Sicoma Perugia of Italy stayed on course for a second successive triumph when they defeated Turkish outfit Halkbank Spor Kulubu 3-0 in the first semi-finals of the Volleyball Men’s Club World Championships at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
Perugia, who is aiming to becoming only the third team to win back-to-back titles in this prestigious tournament, were clinical in the opening two sets and then showed the tenacity to hang on under pressure to win 25-14, 25-16, 31-29.
The Italian outfit has not lost a set in their three matches so far in the competition and will take on the winner of the second semi-final between Japanese debutants Suntory Sunbirds and Itambe Minas of Brazil.
In the first semi-final, Perugia made it clear on the very first point that they were not willing to cede any ground to their opponents as they defended desperately in what was the longest rally of the set. Cuban opposite Jesus Hererra then came up with two big serves to extend his team’s lead to 4-0 and Halkbank coach Kovac Slobodan was forced to take a time-out to break the opponent’s momentum.
Halkbank managed to earn their first point of the match after the break but the Turkish outfit clearly struggled to read Simone Giannelli’s short sets with the likes of Flavio Resende and Sebestian Sole finding the winners from the centre of the court.
There was no respite for the Turkish outfit from the outside as Hererra and Perugia’s Outside Hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi beating the blockers with acute angles on their spikes to wrap up the set in just 22 minutes.
The second set was evenly fought during the initial exchanges with Halkbank spikers using the drops to catch Perugia blockers off guard. But that only delayed their agony as the Italians kept up the pressure with big serves from Hererra and Kamil Semeniuk of Poland. They also read the back-court spikes of Nimir Abdel-Aziz and Earvin Ngapeth with precision to clinch half a dozen points through double and triple blocks to double their lead.
Perugia’s intensity dropped at the start of the third set and that allowed Halkbank to build the pressure on the defending champions. The Turkish outfit even earned four set points but failed to convert them and the Italians booked their final berth on their third match point with Flavio finding the winner.
Halkbank’s day could be summed up with what happened on their first set point. Their Dutch skipper Nimir came up with a big serve to hand a life line to his team, only to waste the opportunity by putting the next serve in the net.
In total, Halkbank were guilty of 17 service errors with nine coming in the third set. Semeniuk top scored for Perugia with 15 points with Hererra supporting him well with 13.
The tournament will go on till 10th of December at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru. Ahmedabad Defenders will find themselves in Pool A, facing the defending champions, Sir Sicoma Perugia from Italy, and Brazil’s Minas Tênis Clube (Itambé Minas). In Pool B, Halkbank Spor Kulübü from Turkey, Sada Cruzeiro Volei from Brazil, and Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds are grouped.
The match tickets can be purchased at BookMyShow.
The Men’s Volleyball Club World Championships 2023 will be telecast live in India on Sony Sports Network across Sony Ten 1 & Sony Ten 3 channels and the broadcast will be shown globally on Volleyball World. Fans in India can also stream the tournament online on FanCode.
