Alan Nine
Men's EuroVolley
TORINO - Finland ended Italy's home Men's EuroVolley campaign with a 3-2 quarter-final victory at the PalaVela. Italy lost 25-21, 26-28, 16-25, 25-20, 13-15 as Finland claimed a semi-final place against France, while Poland will face Slovenia in the other last-four tie in Milan.
Italy had chances to take control but let two important leads slip. They held two set points before losing the second set and led 11-8 in the tie-break, only for Finland to turn the match around. Joonas Jokela scored 28 points and Luka Marttila 22 for the winners. Yuri Romanò led Italy with 20, while Giovanni Sanguinetti added 14 and Mattia Bottolo 13.
Both teams attacked at 54 per cent and finished with six aces, but Finland held a clear advantage in positive reception, 51 per cent to 35. Italy also committed 24 service errors. The defeat brought their tournament to an end in front of 8,260 spectators and denied them a place in the medal weekend at the Unipol Forum.
Giuseppe Manfredi, president of the Italian Volleyball Federation, responded by confirming his confidence in head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi. He pointed to the coach's renewed contract, the team's previous European and world titles and the cohesion within the squad. An end-of-season review will still take place, but Manfredi said there were no grounds for an immediate change.
Manfredi said the federation would assess the campaign with its national-team coaches at the end of the season. He also stressed the need to recover players who were unavailable or short of full fitness, while treating the next Volleyball Nations League as an important step towards the following World Championship. The immediate message, however, was one of continuity rather than a rebuild.
The result also had a sharp effect on the FIVB world ranking. Finland gained 11.48 points and climbed from 17th to 12th, passing Canada, Belgium, Argentina and Cuba. Italy lost the same number of points but remained second on 352.16, only 0.06 ahead of Russia. Poland continue to lead the table on 403.62 points.
Despite the disappointment on court, the quarter-final attracted a large television audience. The match drew 2.4 million viewers and a 13.5 per cent share on Rai 2, with 6.712 million total contacts. A further 500,000 watched on Sky, where reach rose to 1.25 million during the tie-break. The combined Rai and Sky audience was therefore 2.9 million.
International
TUNIS - Tunisia and Cameroon will contest the 2026 African Championship final, with the continental title and a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games at stake. Both finalists have also qualified for the 2027 World Championship in Poland after winning their semi-finals in four sets.
Tunisia, seeking a 12th African title, beat Morocco 3-1, 25-17, 20-25, 25-16, 25-12. Ali Bongui scored 17 points and Oussama Ben Romdhane 15 as the hosts controlled both attack and block. Cameroon defeated Algeria 25-22, 25-16, 20-25, 25-23, led by 13 points from Elie Badawe Djakode.
Friday's bronze-medal match between Morocco and Algeria will decide the tournament's third World Championship place. Tunisia and Cameroon will then meet in the final at 18:00 local time in Tunis.
