Czechia secure a spot at the Final Four of the Golden #EuroLeagueW , Hungary disappoint Belarus

One day before the end of the Golden #EuroLeagueW tournament in Pool C, the defending champions from Czechia secured their spot at the Final Four of the 2021 edition of the competition that will take place on June 19-20 in Ruse, Bulgaria. The players around head coach Ioannis Athanasopoulos did so after grabbing two sets from the match vs. Croatia, and even though they eventually lost this matchup, they will anyway finish on top of the charts in the group.

In the other match of the Pool, Hungary disappointed the team of Belarus in a battle for the third position in the current standings, seizing a quick 3-0 victory.

Croatia, led by Samanta Fabris and Matea Ikic, claimed the victory vs Czechia after an intense five-setter. After winning on Wednesday in five sets vs Belarus, on Thursday the players around head coach Daniele Santarelli disappointed the strong team of Czechia in a match that lasted exactly 134 minutes. The slightly better performance on attack and block became the key to the success.

- Czechia started better in the match, with four aces paving the way towards a 25-20 win.
- Croatia responded immediately in next one, with the duo Fabris - Ikic shining in the decisive moments. Czechia put up a real fight but lacked some concentration, and Croatia could emerge victorious.
- A great battle was delivered in the third set, with none of the teams giving up. With 50% efficiency on the attack in these moments, the players around Santarelli took the lead.
- Good play by Klara Peric in the middle of the fourth set helped Croatia build a small point difference, but Czechia had a wake-up call, and with nice contribution after the 20th point by Andrea Kossanyiova, the hosts were able to bring the match into a tie-break.
- In the last decisive part, Croatia showed better nerves and congratulated themselves with the victory.

In the other match of the day, Hungary needed only 68 minutes to get a revenge for the 1-3 loss from the first tournament last Saturday. The Hungarians controlled the game during the whole match and on all the components, finishing with 7 kill blocks, 5 aces and 51% efficiency in attack.

- Zsofia Gyimes from Hungary led her team in the beginning of the match. With 14 successful attacks, the Hungarians opened the match in their favour, with Adrienn Vezsenyi being the best in the first set, recording six points all by herself.

- Belarus were more stable in the second set, having improved on the attack. Both teams delivered some cool actions, but Kata Török on the serve after the 10th point made it difficult for the opponent's reception, and Hungary started extending their advantage, and with four kill blocks in the set, they eventually won it comfortably.

- Nothing changed in the last set, and the Hungarians emerged victorious.

- Gréta Kiss became top scorer with 13 points, while Eszter Anna Pekárik recorded 3 blocks.