A parade of straight-set openers for Italy, Serbia and Turkey in the first day of Tokyo 2020
Recap
Following men’s competition on Saturday, women’s volleyball teams took the centre stage in Ariake Arena at The Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo on Sunday. The opening match belonged to two European teams - Italy and ROC [Russian Olympic Committee] as they locked horns to kick off their olympic campaigns. The Italians are off to a good start after recording a win against ROC. Serbia followed a while later with a victory against Dominican Republic, while Turkey succeeded against defending champions from Rio Olympics 2016, China.
ROC vs Italy 0-3 (23-25, 19-25, 14-25)
Both teams opened their Olympic campaigns in the women’s competition with one of the most anticipated clashes of this phase in the competition. The first set was the most balanced between ROC and Italy as both squad kept a tight score until last moments of the set. Italy grabbed the opening part and while the beginning of the first set remained competitive as well, Italy established a dominance going from 14-13 to 20-14. That seemed to be a turning point for the Italians, who continued to lead against ROC and ended their first match with a satisfying straight-set victory.
Paola Egonu delivered 18 points (14 winning spikes, 3 aces, 1 bock) for Italy, while Caterina Bosetti was the second top scorer for her side with 12 points. Arina Fedorovtseva led for ROC with 10 points, all gained through winning spikes.
On Tuesday Italy will be facing another fellow-European opponent, Turkey, while ROC will be playing against Argentina.
Paola Egonu“It was a good start, we had to break the ice at the beginning, but then it was fun and we were able to establish our game. At the beginning of the game I felt a bit excited as I think is normal for any athlete who steps on the court in the first match of the Olympics, but then everything went as we wanted.”
Opposite of Italy [by federvolley.it]
Nataliya Goncharova“If we won the first set, it would have pushed us further. We played very badly and played unworthy volleyball today. You can find fault with everything, we just played badly and the Italians just played better than us. If we think that this loss is a critical situation and everything is lost, then there is no point in continuing to play. We will try not to think about this game, but try to fight in every next match. We still have every chance to leave the group, everything is in our hands.”
Opposite of ROC [by volley.ru]
Serbia vs Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-20)
Serbia put up a dominant display against Dominican Republic in their first match at Tokyo 2020, winning the match in straight sets. Europeans led in all elements, scoring collectively 42 winning spikes, 15 blocks and 4 aces, while Dominican Republic gained 26 winning spikes and 5 blocks. Tijana Boskovic and Milena Rasic stood out from the crowd, with Boskovic recording a whopping 28 points (24 winning spikes, 3 blocks and 1 ace) and Rasic performing very well at the net with 6 stuff blocks. Both performances put Boskovic and Rasic on top of the individual statistics at the early stage of the competition.
Serbians will be back on court on Tuesday, when they will be facing no other but the hosts of the Olympics, Japan.
China vs Turkey 0-3 (21-25, 14-25, 14-25)
Turkey completed European teams’ performance during the opening day at the Olympics with a victory of their own. Known as the Sultans of the Net back in their country, the Turkish team delivered a small surprise for those who backed the defending Olympic champions China ahead of this match. Led by Ebrar Karakurt, Turkey won against China in straight-sets. Karakurt scored 18 points, including 16 winning spikes, while Meliha Ismailoglu delivered a solid performance (78% of positive reception) and tops individual statistics as the best receiver thus far. Captain Eda Erdem Dündar was the second best scorer on the Turkish side with 13 points, including 4 blocks.
On Tuesday Turkey will be facing Italians, who also recorded a win in their opening match earlier on Sunday.
Eda Erdem“We played a very good game against reigning Olympic champions, China. The opening matches are always tough in such big tournaments, but we prepared very well as a team. I can say that we played really good volleyball today. We defended more than we ever did, we served well, I think we played well in all aspects in this match. We have big respect for China, they have a very good players. This match will give us a big push in the coming days. Congrats to all my teammates and staff.”
Captain of Turkey