U20 Men & Women Beach Volleyball Balkan Tour 2023 will be played from 25th to 27th July in Pogradec in Albania.
On the U20 Men and Women Beach Balkan Championship will participate teams from Albania, Kosovo, Turkiye, Romania and Moldova.
The joint photo from the last day of the 47th edition of the traditional memorial tournament “Branko Hadziiljoski – Chajka” best reflects the essence of the three-day program in Boris Trajkovski Hall in Skopje as a warm-up for the upcoming CEV EuroVolley 2023. Four national teams from three continents, friendly matches, but performance on the court with a visible desire to win, probably a few tactically resolved dilemmas, but also still open questions in the air about how to polish the form until the matches of greater importance.
Greece took first place in the tournament with two wins and one loss, the same as Japan, but the guests from the far east had a slightly lower points ratio and finished second. Egypt took third place with one win and two losses, and the Macedonian volleyball players were fourth with fewer points (2) than the representative of Africa (4), although they were more successful in their head-to-head match. For the host, the award for MVP of the captain Nikola Gjorjiev was a small consolation and pleasure, and the audience applauded Ryo Shimokawa from Japan who received the award for the best setter.
In the end, regardless of the results, the three-day tournament was a successful mission for all participants. Everyone was playing now for the qualitative growth with which they would meet the goals. It’s no secret, the red and yellow are looking at the Top 16 in the third CEV EuroVolley appearance in a row, but for the first time in front of the home crowd. That may create pressure, but the restlessness inside is also part of the big picture. Just like the motivation that is created facing a big challenge.
Italy started with the right step their EuroVolley 2023 campaign on the home soil, by winning 3:0 first game of Pool B over Romania, in the amazing atmosphere at monumental Arena di Verona.
Good start in Eurovolley 2023 for defending champs Italy, who easily defeated 3:0 Romania in the emotional atmosphere of Arena di Verona, home of the opening game of European Championships, with top Volleyball back in this great venue after 35 years.
Davide Mazzanti started the game with superstar Paola Egonu from the bench, with captain Myriam Sylla who drove the Azzurre to a good start in first set, together with middle blocker Anna Danesi and outside hitter Ekaterina Antropova. It was the captain to seal last point of first set, for the Italian win 25-19.
In second set Romania resisted until 5-5, then Italian team stepped up again, showed their talent forcing Romanian head coach to call a timeout on 13-7, with an ace of Antropova. The Azzurre kept the distances during all second set, with some up and downs for Italy and with a couple of good plays by Romania, but with Alice Degradi who stepped up coming from the bench, concluding second setwith a powerful crosscourt the second set’s winning point at 25-19 again.
In third set Romania started 2-0 and the game remained balanced until 10-10, but after a couple of good plays for italian spikers, Italy made the decisive break leading 19-13, to finish third set 25-15 with a final spike of Ekaterina Antropova, which gave the win to Italy.
During all the game Italy always seemed in control, containing the attacks and the serves of the Romanian, stepping up in the right moments of the sets, takiong home a well deserved win.
Good impact on the game for Alice Degradi, coming from the bench in first and second set, both times making the difference with winning points and aces, remaining on the court in third set scoring some more points.
In the end, the 27 year old spiker scored 12 points, with a strong 67% in attack.
The best scorer of the game was Ekaterina Antropova with 13 points. For Romania, the best scorer was Adelina Budai-Ungureanu with 12 points.
It was a great night at the Arena di Verona, with almost 9000 enthusiastic fans, a great Volleyball showdown starting EuroVolley 2023, in the best location in the world for an opening game.
“It’s crazy here, we were so emotioned for this match, we saw all the people here to see us play, we were so excited for this. We have to play how we know, expressing our potential at the best, we did it and I’m so happy”
Alice Degradi
Italy outside hitter
There are still 15 days left until the start of the sports event that the Macedonian Volleyball family has been looking forward to since the moment CEV announced that Skopje would be one of the cities where EuroVolley 2023 Men was to take place. The excitement could be felt in the air at Tuesday’s press conference at the Agency for Youth and Sports, where the trophy of the continental championship and the new jerseys of Team MKD were displayed and promoted.
“There is no better feeling for an athlete when he looks at the trophy of such a high-ranking event. As a handball player, I did not have the opportunity to play at the European Championship at home and that is why I want to tell the Macedonian players that this is a great privilege for them,” said the director of the Agency Naumche Mojsoski, a former famous member of the handball national team of the country in the heart of the Balkans.
“It is a great honour for us to have the opportunity to draw motivation from watching the trophy for the best European team. We have been working for 30 days, we want to present ourselves in the best possible light, to make our fans happy and thus give additional value to Macedonian Volleyball,” said head coach Joshko Milenkoski, who led Türkiye at CEV EuroVolley 2017, but sees the present opportunity as the most satisfying of all his endeavours.
“If we cannot win the trophy, at least let’s be the most beautiful at CEV EuroVolley 2023,” said the charismatic captain of the Macedonian national team, Nikola Gjorgiev, as a joke, presenting the new design of the red-yellow jerseys. And then he added: “It will be a huge success for us if we play in the Top 16 in Bari. That will mean that we have won this trophy that is in front of you.”
Inviting the spectators to come to CEV EuroVolley 2023 and be the seventh player of the Macedonian national team, Gjorgiev used the opportunity to say that he is enjoying these days because from Friday to Sunday the 47th traditional memorial tournament Chajka will take place in Boris Trajkovski hall with visitors from three continents. Egypt, Japan, and Greece should be a good warm-up for the most significant act in the repertoire of Macedonian Volleyball. The red-and-yellow hope that it will be the brightest one as well.