Luxembourg crowned SCA men’s champions in Edinburgh
News
After three action-packed days, the Small Countries Association (SCA) Senior Men’s Finals 2023 finished with the Red Lions from Luxembourg crowned as the winners!
With the home team making it to the final, a much-anticipated gold medal match accounted for a full hall at Oriam in Edinburgh to watch Scotland go up against Luxembourg. After going through the tournament undefeated, Luxembourg presented themselves as a strong opponent for the Scots. However, Team Scotland came prepared with one of their best lineups in years and were ready for a fight. Despite some strong and creative plays from the home team, they were unable to beat a relentless Luxembourg – whose players eventually seized the title in four sets (25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17).
San Marino and Iceland faced each other for the second time in the competition in the battle for bronze. After a 25-20 win in the first set, San Marino looked like they were ready to repeat their previous victory against Iceland. However, the Icelandic team persisted and won a tough second set 25-23. Iceland built on their momentum from the second set into the third and fourth sets to hold off a strong San Marino team, coming out victorious with a 3-1 win.
The first match of the final day saw a battle between Northern Ireland and Ireland for the 5th place. Northern Ireland started the match strongly, quickly taking control and winning the first set with a comfortable margin. The Irish team demonstrated a stronger fight in the next two sets but were unable to shake the consistent rhythm of the Northern Irish who, ultimately, won the battle for fifth place in straight sets (25-10, 25-16, 25-14).
Awards were presented for the tournament’s Super Seven by former members of the Scottish men’s national team as follows:
Setter: Marc McLaughlin (SCO)
Opposite: Mathis Esselin (LUX)
Outside hitters: Chris Zuidberg (LUX), Lorenzo Benvenuti (SMR)
Middle blockers: Hafsteinn Valdimarsson (ISL), David Mexson (SCO)
Libero: Liam Darling (SCO)
The organisers wish to thank all staff members, officials and volunteers who helped and made the event as successful as possible. In addition, Scottish Volleyball would like to thank their partners, Volleyball Photos, Edinburgh Trams, the Oriam, and sportscotland for their help throughout the competition.
Final standing
1. Luxembourg
2. Scotland
3. Iceland
4. San Marino
5. Northern Ireland
6. Ireland
All pictures courtesy of www.volleyballphotos.co.uk