Heart-stopping Italvolley: Azzurre in the final! Brazil k.o. at tie-break
For the third time in its history, the women’s national volleyball team reached the World Cup final: at the Huamak Sports Hall in Bangkok, Thailand, the girls led by coach Julio Velasco overcame Brazil in the semifinals, at the end of a heart-stopping match resolved only in the final tie-break. In the final there’s now Turkey coached by Italy’s Daniele Santarelli, who defeated Japan 3-1.
22-25, 25-22, 28-30, 25-22, 15-13 the five partials, with Italy very good at not getting upset after a few too many errors in the first set and after an unlucky third set, characterized by two wasted set points on 24-23 and 27-26. Spectacular individual performance by Ekaterina Antropova, who scored 28 points, although it was opposing captain Gabi who finished as top scorer, at 29.
Among the other Azzurri, also outstanding were the attacking performances of Myriam Sylla, with 21 points, and Paola Egonu, who put up 10. Stella Nervini and Sarah Fahr scored 8, captain Anna Danesi 5, Gaia Giovannini 4 and Alessia Orro 3 on the match score sheet. In Brazil, in addition to Gabi, Rosamaria’s 20 points, Diana’s 15 and Julia’s 14 were noteworthy.
For Italy, therefore, the dream of a second rainbow title still remains alive, twenty-three years after the historic victory of the girls coached by Marco Bonitta in 2002. Turkey, led on the court by cyclone Melissa Vargas (top scorer in the semifinals with 28 points to her credit), on the other hand, secured its first medal at the World Championships regardless, having never stood on the podium in previous editions of the rainbow event.
