Türkiye claim top spot in Riga, Belgium’s Yellow Tigers wrap up pool stage with on-court dancing

It took two hours and eight minutes for the top teams to battle it out and determine the winner of the #EuroVolleyU18W Pool I in Riga. Türkiye’s young players claimed the pole position, while the Italian team will now look to reach the final through the tougher side of the semi-final bracket. There was no shortage of emotion or tension in the other final-round matches either, where the Belgian team secured the coveted third place and a ticket to the World Championship 2027.

Both leaders of the Riga pool had already secured their spots in the semi-finals, but their head-to-head match served to determine not only their seeding for the decisive games but also the balance of power between them. “It was important for us to advance as top seed so we could continue the tournament with confidence. We know that neither we nor the runners-up face an easy battle in the semi-finals,” said Aylin Uysalcan, the leader of the Turkish team, describing their mindset before the match. Her team won the first two sets, but the Italian squad gradually improved their defensive performance and seized the initiative. In the fourth set, the team coached by Stefano Gregoris erased a three-point deficit to level the score. However, Türkiye regained the lead in the closing stages of the tiebreaker, ultimately winning the match 3-2 (27-25, 25-18, 20-25, 20-25, 15-11).

“One of our goals in Riga was to beat Italy and win the group, but there are still other, bigger goals to achieve. We are happy about the victory, but today’s match is already the past. We need to focus on the next ones,” Uysalcan noted, reminding that the decisive matches in Riga are still to come. Before the fifth set, she had reminded her teammates that everyone believed in their abilities, so the players themselves needed to believe in them too. “We gave it our all on the court, our heart and soul, and I think we did a pretty good job.”

The Italian national team’s head coach was also pleased with his team’s performance, emphasising that they had shown a strong response following the bad game against Spain the day before. “Yesterday there was too much confusion on the court, but today there was very strong energy and very good technique. And I am very happy for this, not for the result, obviously, but we are here to compete,” said Stefano Gregoris. In his view, the outcome of the tie-breaker was decided by two errors made at the very end, but this result does not change the Italian team’s outlook on the tournament as a whole. “We are here to win the tournament. We showed that we can claim the title here, and we will try to do just that.”

As the day progressed, the main focus shifted to the battle for third place and the chance to qualify for next summer’s U19 World Championship. Among the three contenders, Poland faced the toughest task, needing a win while also relying on their rivals to slip up. The team did their part by defeating Iceland 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-16) and also saw the subsequent match go their way. After winning the opening set, Spain ultimately lost 2-3 (25-20, 14-25, 18-25, 25-14, 5-15) to Czechia. 

However, the final word belonged to Belgium, who seized the opportunity and defeated Latvia 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-15), thus overtaking Poland thanks to a better set ratio. Songs and dances by the Belgian girls on the court concluded the pool stage in Riga. “I think the most important thing is just that we fight together as a team, because we worked really, really hard for this and now it is just time to have fun and prove ourselves,” said Ayiana Hall, who scored 12 points for the winning team. She denied that the team had lost faith in their abilities after three losses at the start of the tournament. “We knew that we are a good team and we knew that we can play better, so we just had to switch on the button, just fight and show it!” 

The Latvian capital awaits the top teams from Šiauliai to determine the finalists on Saturday and crown the new U18 European champions on Sunday. “I think the team that handles fatigue and manages to prepare both physically and mentally for the decisive matches the best will win the title,” predicted Uysalcan. Seven games in nine days are already behind these teams, but the two most important ones still lie ahead.