Tag: Halkbank Spor Kulubu

by Abhishek Shukla

Volleyball Club World Championships: Defending champions Sir Sicoma Perugia seal final spot with a win over Halkbank Spor Kulubu

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.

by Abhishek Shukla

Men’s Volleyball Club world championship: Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds begin campaign with dominating 3-0 win over Turkey’s Halkbank Spor Kulubu 

Bangalore, December 6: Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds came up with a strong overall performance to beat Turkey’s Halkbank Spor Kulubu in straight sets in the opening Pool B encounter of the Men’s Volleyball Club World Championship 2023 at the Koramangala Indoor stadium here on Wednesday. 

Sunbirds, the first Japanese club to participate in the Club World Championship, took time to find their feet against their Turkish opponents but were able to turn the tables midway through the opening set and went on to win 25-23, 25-23, 25-16 in just over an hour to clinch three full points. 

This is the first time that an international volleyball tournament of this stature is being held in India with some of the world’s best players in action over a period of five days. Six teams have been divided into two groups, making every match a must-win encounter to reach the knock-out stage. 

And Sunbirds put themselves in pole position for one of the semi-final spots from Pool B on Wednesday, bagging all three points. According to the tournament format, the winning team gets three points only if they drop one or no sets. 

Such a result for Sunbirds didn’t look possible during the initial exchanges of the opening set with the Turkish side boasting of the likes of Frenchman Earvin Ngapeth and Nimir Abdel-Aziz of Netherlands going on the offensive. 

Despite a couple of service errors, Halkbank looked in control with a four-point advantage at 18-14 before Sunbirds turned the tables with their strong blocking and smart attack from Russian Opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy and outside hitter De Armas Berrio Alain Junior of Cuba. 

Muserskiy, a 2012 Olympic gold medallist, went for the big spikes from the right while Alain Junior came up with smart angles to deceive the opposition blockers. 

With the momentum completely in their favour, Sunbirds began the second game with a lot more confidence and whatever pressure Halkbank would build on them was released thanks to their service errors. 

Overall, the Turkish outfit was guilty of 17 service errors with the captain Nimir making five mistakes in his 13 attempts across three sets. 

In contrast, Sunbirds raised their levels as the match progressed and Alain Junior was definitely the stand out player, scoring a total of 15 points, nine from attack, three from blocks and three on serve including an ace. Muserskiy, one of the tallest player in the volleyball circuit, supported him by clinching a total of 14 points. 

The duo took turns to leave the Turkish defence flummoxed in the third set as Sunbirds clinched seven straight points from 10-10 and left their opponents an uphill task to make a comeback. 

Sunbirds came up with eight block points and three aces in the third set to earn nine match points. Halkbank saved the first but it was not to be there day and a service error Matic Mert meant that the team has very little to show for their day’s effort. 

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.