Europeans Abroad: Kapucu helps Bandung retain Indonesian title

European volleyball players are spread all over the world during the 2022-2023 club season, playing big roles in their teams. Many of them are currently away from the continent, competing in some of the top leagues on the planet, and we’ll help you follow their journeys by providing periodic updates on how they’re doing.

Indonesia

Bandung BJB Tandamata managed to retain the Indonesian Women’s Proliga title and dominate the country’s national league for the fourth time, having 29-year-old Turkish opposite Ceren Kapucu as a key player in their triumph.

In her first season with the team, Kapucu produced Bandung’s second-best mark of 21 points in the Proliga’s Grand Final, which saw her team top Jakarta Pertamina Fastrom after five sets (27-25, 25-22, 24-26, 20-25, 15-8) on Saturday. The second-placed Pertamina also had a strong European contribution in their campaign, with Ukrainian outside hitter Oleksandra Bytsenko tallying 25 points in the final and Serbian outside hitter Marija Zelenović adding three.

On the men’s side, Jakarta Lavani Allo Bank were the winners, also securing the title for a second-straight season. Bulgarian outside hitter Rozalin Penchev helped his team Jakarta STIN BIN finish third, producing ten points in the three-set (31-29, 25-23, 25-18) bronze medal match against Surabaya Bin Samator.

Asia

Qatar’s Al Rayyan SC counted on a strong contribution from European players to lift the trophy of the first edition of the West Asia Men’s Club Volleyball Championship, which came to an end on Friday, in Jordan.

The tournament featured nine club teams from seven different countries in the region and saw Al Rayyan dominate from start to finish, winning all seven matches they played over the last eight days while dropping only four sets along the way.

Miloš Stevanović and Oliver Venno were instrumental in Al Rayyan’s strong campaign, with the Serbian-born setter being awarded as the tournament’s best player in his position and the Estonian international picked as the best opposite in the event. Al Rayyan are coached by North Macedonia’s Zharko Ristoski.

Japan

Polish world champion opposite Bartosz Kurek and Russian Olympic champion opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy starred in an exciting battle for the top spot in the standings of the Japanese Men’s V-League with their teams Wolfdogs Nagoya and Suntory Sunbirds over the weekend.

The two ended the weekend with more than 60 points scored as the Wolfdogs and the Sunbirds, who entered the week tied at the top of the standings and remain in the same place with 25 wins apiece, split a pair of five-set wins in the most important matches in the country’s national league.

Friday’s encounter went Muserskiy’s way as the Russian fired 31 points (26 kills, two blocks, three aces) to help his team win 20-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13 – Kurek left the court with 33 points (32 kills, one block).

The Polish got revenge on Saturday, when the Wolfdogs benefited from his 35 points (33 kills, two aces) to win 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-10). Muserskiy scored 30 points in that match, with 28 kills and two aces.

Azeri outside hitter Jana Kulan was one of the highlights of the women’s V-League as she led her team Toray Arrows to back-to-back victories, making of her side one of only two teams that collected a pair of wins in the weekend round. She’s the league’s second-best scorer with 750 points to her name.

 On Saturday, the Arrows, who sit at the top of the standings with 26 wins, had a clean three-set (25-15, 25-19, 25-14) victory over the Victorina Himeji, with Kulan contributing 17 points, all in kills.

The team was pushed harder on Sunday and relied on a 26-point (25 kills, one block) performance from the Azeri star to claim a five-set (25-12, 20-25, 25-16, 14-25, 15-11) win against the Okayama Seagulls.