Alan Nine
Turkey retained their Women’s EuroVolley title after defeating Italy in a five-set final watched by more than 17,000 spectators in Istanbul.
Serbia completed the podium with a four-set victory over Poland, while Italy’s semi-final also attracted a substantial television audience.
Women’s EuroVolley Final
Turkey defeated Italy 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 12-25, 25-21, 15-10) at the Sinan Erdem Sports Hall, twice recovering from a set down before taking control of the tie-break.
The match lasted two hours and two minutes and was watched by 17,299 spectators.
Italy made the stronger start, using effective serving, blocking and transition play to dominate the opening set.
Paola Egonu led a six-point run that took Julio Velasco’s team from 8-8 to 14-8, before captain Anna Danesi scored the final point of the set for 25-16.
The second set changed the direction of the match. Italy led 12-6 and remained in front at 19-17, but Turkey found greater stability following the Italian double substitution.
Melissa Vargas helped the hosts take the set 25-22, bringing Turkey level and lifting the atmosphere inside the arena.
Italy responded emphatically in the third. Egonu and Ekaterina Antropova put Turkey under sustained pressure from the service line, while Danesi and Sarah Fahr dominated at the net.
The 25-12 score restored Italy’s lead and appeared to put Velasco’s team back in control.
Turkey responded once again. Daniele Santarelli’s side established an early 10-3 advantage in the fourth, withstood an Italian comeback and made better use of their transition opportunities to force a deciding set.
In the tie-break, Eda Erdem Dündar capitalised on two overpasses as Turkey moved from 4-4 to an 8-4 lead.
Zehra Güneş later produced a block to make it 12-7, before an Italian service error brought the match to an end.
Vargas and Egonu shared the top-scoring honours with 28 points each. Antropova contributed 16 for Italy, while Güneş scored 12 for Turkey.
Italy finished with 11 aces and 16 blocks, compared with Turkey’s two aces and 11 blocks. The hosts, however, were more effective in reception and produced the stronger performance in the closing stages.
The victory gave Santarelli another major international title with Turkey.
Italy leave Istanbul with the silver medal after reaching their sixth European Championship final, having arrived at the tournament as the reigning Olympic and world champions.
Bronze-Medal Match
Serbia recovered from their straight-sets semi-final defeat by Turkey to beat Poland 3-1 in the bronze-medal match.
Tijana Bošković led Serbia with 29 points.
Zoran Terzić’s team had faced strong criticism from their coach following their semi-final performance, but responded by securing a place on the podium against Stefano Lavarini’s Poland.
Television Audience and Aftermath
Italy’s 3-1 semi-final victory over Poland attracted an average audience of 1.328 million viewers on Rai 2, representing a 13.77% audience share and generating 3.5 million total contacts.
Sky Sport recorded an average audience of 332,000 viewers, while its overall reach exceeded one million during the closing stages of the fourth set.
The build-up to the final was also marked by a public dispute following the Turkey-Serbia semi-final.
Turkish Volleyball Federation president Mehmet Akif Üstündağ accused Terzić of provocative behaviour and said the Serbian coach should no longer seek work in Turkey.
Üstündağ also rejected criticism of Turkey’s use of naturalised players and argued that the controversy had strengthened the home team.
