PRE-CLASIFICATORIO OLÍMPICO EUROPEO 2011

[Lloyd]

05/10/2011 11.30
Pools for Olympic pre-qualification tournaments are set
2012 Olympic Games - European Qualification


Luxembourg, October 5, 2011. After completion of the 2011 European Championship and with the FIVB having assigned the wild cards available for joining the upcoming World Cup in Japan, teams were finally allocated to the pre-qualification tournaments that are slated for November and that represent the next step along the road to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. With some countries having advanced to this stage by claiming the elimination round that wound up in early September, the Pools were completed by seeding the remaining teams as per their ranking in the final round of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship.
The winners of the pre-qualification phase will advance to the European Qualification Tournament scheduled for May 2012 in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Istanbul, Turkey, for men and women respectively where one ticket to represent Europe at the Olympics will be at stake.

The composition of the Pools for the men’s pre-qualification tournaments that will be running through November 22-27 reads as follows (organizers are marked in bold):

Tournament 1: Slovakia, Turkey, Estonia, Austria, Spain, Montenegro
Tournament 2: France, Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Latvia
Tournament 3: Finland, Slovenia, Portugal, Croatia, Netherlands, Ukraine

As for Pool A, the provisional venue is Slovakia – as this country is the highest ranked from the final round of the EuroVolley 2011 – but the tournament may be moved to Turkey as per a decision to be eventually finalized by next Monday, October 10.

The composition of the Pools for the women’s pre-qualification tournaments that will be running through November 8-13 reads as follows (organizers are marked in bold):

Tournament 1: Russia, Spain, Romania, Belgium, Slovakia, Austria
Tournament 2: Netherlands, France, Croatia, Israel, Greece, Sweden
Tournament 3: Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Denmark

The formula of the pre-qualification tournaments is the same for men and women, i.e. the six teams will be divided into two groups of three each, playing there a single round robin, before the first and second ranked play crossed semifinals thereby eventually qualifying for the final game.



Fuente:
http://www.cev.lu

[Lloyd]

26/11/2011 22.00
Finland wins Olympic pre-qualifier in Osijek
2012 Olympic Games - European Qualification




Osijek, Croatia, November 26, 2011. On Saturday Finland booked a ticket for the European Olympic Qualification tournament scheduled for May 2012 in Sofia after edging Slovenia 3:1 (15-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20) in the final match of the pre-qualifier that just came to a close in Osijek. Slovenia surprised Finland by claiming the opening set but afterwards the guys coached by Daniel Castellani controlled the game and regularly stopped Mitja Gasparini who nevertheless top scored in the match with 19 points.
“Finland has got an experienced group and we were missing some important players” commented Slovenia head coach Veselin Vukovic. “We were also tired after playing four matches in four days”.
“We started poorly: our reception was not good and it affected our offense. However, everything just came together in the next sets” stated the Argentinean-born Castellani.
Finland was paced once again by Mikko Oivanen (14 points) supported by Antti Siltala and Olli Kunnari with 10 and 7 respectively. Tine Urnaut contributed 15 points to the Slovenian tally.

[Lloyd]

26/11/2011 22.40
Spain shocks Slovakia to claim pass for European Olympic qualifier
2012 Olympic Games - European Qualification




Poprad, Slovakia, November 26, 2011. Spain upset the hosts of Slovakia by claiming the final match of the Olympic pre-qualifier in Poprad after five long sets and a dramatic final rush (25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 17-15) thereby taking revenge for the defeats previously suffered in the prelims of this tournament as well as this past July as the last act of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European League was played in Kosice.
The home heroes looked nervous as the game got started while Spain played with confidence to set the tempo mainly via Iban Perez (13:7). After the Spaniards had enjoyed a margin of six by the second mandatory stop, Slovakia woke up and Lukas Divis scored for the provisional 20:22. Spain, however, accelerated again to claim the next three rallies and take home the opening set.
Branislav Skladany aced for the 7:4 in favor of Slovakia in set 2 and the addition of Martin Sopko to the starting six helped the home side wrap it up at 25-21. Spain defended extremely well in the third set (11:6), but Slovakia gradually woke up to finally tie at 22 all; however, the guests stayed cool and went for the 2:1 (25-23).
Slovakia pulled back in set 4 and eventually stretched the game to the tie-break. Spain was up 8:6 as teams changed sides but Slovakia fought back for the 9:8; with Martin Nemec Slovakia stayed in the front (12:10, 13:11), but Jorge Fernandez turned things around with his terrific serving, so Spain had a first match ball as the score stood at 14:13. A block on Martin Nemec sealed the final 17-15 and fired up the Spanish fiesta, while the hosts and their fans looked somehow shocked.
“We are very happy with this win because it is very important for us to qualify to Sofia. Finally we have won a final match against Slovakia and in Slovakia. It was also important for our young players, because they have been working hard and this victory pays back their efforts. We were trailing down in the final moments of the deciding set but we always believed in our chances and this was important” said the head coach of team Spain Fernando Munoz.
“We made some mistakes in the tie-break. Our guys wanted to win so badly, they fought bravely, because the Olympic Games are a big motivation, but our experienced players shall not commit such stupid mistakes. Spain played good in the tie-break but we lost mainly because we did not have enough patience” singled out home mentor Stefan Chrtiansky.

[Lloyd]

26/11/2011 23.30
Belgium upsets France in Tourcoing to play Germany in final match
2012 Olympic Games - European Qualification




Tourcoing, France, November 26, 2011. Belgium caused the major sensation of the day in Tourcoing as the guys mentored by Claudio Gewehr beat the hosts of France in the semis of that Olympic pre-qualifier after a tremendous battle that lasted for five sets (25-19, 22-25, 26-24, 23-25, 15-12). Germany took the second ticket for the last act of the tournament by seeing off the Czech Republic 3:1 (19-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-16).
Belgium’s win upset many local fans in Tourcoing but was fully deserved. The Belgians took the opening set of that semifinal by out-blocking their opponents 8 to 0, before France fought back in set 2 mainly via Earvin Ngapeth, best scorer at the end of the day with 28 points. France was struggling in defense and although the local supporters were cheering loudly on their heroes, they missed on a set ball and Belgium eventually took home set 3 (26-24). France drew level in sets but Franck Depestele and his friends eventually deprived the hosts from the opportunity to run for a ticket to the European Continental qualifier scheduled for next May in Sofia, Bulgaria. “Two months ago I was really disappointed with our result from the European Championship, we beat France there and almost took two sets from Italy but we finally did not make it out of the prelims. Our confidence is increasing day by day; we have a great setter and he is excellent also in driving our young players. Every game has got its own story and is decided by some small details” said Belgian head coach Claudio Gewehr. “I am very proud because we have been working with this group for 5-6 years and as they were juniors they were regularly beaten by France. It feels great to make it to the final and tomorrow we’ll go for the win”.

In the second semifinal Germany beat the Czech Republic after losing the opening set; the Germans served well and were anchored by their captain Björn Andrae. “We are improving game after game” he stated, “we came here much focused and I think tomorrow the serving will be the key factor to take home the win”.

[Lloyd]

La victoria de Finlandia se veia a kilometros , España dio la campanada , y espero que Alemania gane la final .

[Fernando92]

Que pena por Francia

[Lloyd]

Alemania ganó la final contra Belgica (3-0) y consiguió el ultimo pase al pre-olimpico .

25-17
25-23
25-23

[DCD]

que extraño que bulgaria en femenino no sea potencia como lo es en el masculino :/ muy bien por alemania

[Lloyd]

Que pena por Francia, Eslovaquia y Turquia .

[Lloyd]

Si Rusia, Polonia y Italia logran cupo Slovenia, Eslovaquia y Belgica (en ese orden) clasifican al pre-olimpico.