Turkey, Estonia, Belgium start on the right foot in the Golden #EuroLeagueM

On the first day of competition in the 2021 Golden #EuroLeagueM, Turkey, Estonia and Belgium congratulated themselves with important victories.

The defending champions from Turkey started on the right foot their 2021 campaign after outclassing at 3-1 the team of Czech Republic. On Friday, the players around head coach Nedim Özbey showed better motivation and on the road to retaining the 2019 title, seized an important victory vs the inspired team of Czechia. In a match that lasted 104 minutes, it was the better performance on the block (13) and on the serving line (11 aces) that helped the team of Turkey to emerge victorious. 

- Jan Hadrava from Czech Republic was shining in attack, but the excellent play on the net by Murat Yenipazar and Bedirhan Bülbül with two blocks each became the key to the success in the first set.

- Hadrava and his teammates stepped up their game and pushed hard on the attack and on the block in the second set. It was again him who took the responsibility and with a successful attack recorded a break point for 23-21.

- Turkey's star, Adis Lagumdzija took things in his hands afterwards, performing well on the attack. With 16 winning spikes and five aces, Turkey got back on track.

-  The 2019 champions stormed out in the beginning of the fourth set with four aces, and even though Czech Republic weren't giving up, Turkey grabbed the victory

- Adis Lagumdzija became top scorer with 25 points, while Jan Hadrava recorded 24 to his name. 

In Pool A, the young team of Estonia started in an excellent way seizing a 3-0 victory over Spain. 

Eager to repeat their 2016 and 2018 success in the #EuroLeagueM when they triumphed with the title, Estonia seized a rather easy victory vs the Spanish team. The players around head coach Cédric Énard needed only 76 minutes to beat Spain 3-0. Outclassing the opponents in all the components, the young Estonian players controlled the game during the whole match, with only the first set bringing intrigue with the teams breathing down each other's necks.

-  Spain started good on the block, immediately recording two successful actions on this element, but Estonia were better on attack. In the middle of the first set, Spain's Jordi Ramon Ferragut suffered an ankle injury and had to leave the match.

- The players led by head coach Ricardo Maldonado seemed to have lost their rhythm and were struggling to organise successful attacks, finishing with eight winning spikes in the second set, compared to 17 by the team of Estonia. 

- In the third set, the Estonian players stepped up with their block (5) and from the serving line (3 aces), becoming these elements the key to the success in the set.

- Renee Teppan finished as the best scorer with 17 to his name. His teammate Albert Hurt added 14. For Spain, it was Victor Rodríguez Pérez who was the best with 12 points.

- This was coach Énard's first official match at the helm of Estonia's national team.

In the second match of the day in Pool A, Belgium delivered a comeback after losing the first set vs Latvia, and eventually became winner of the match seizing a 3-1 victory. The Red Dragons dominated on the net (11 blocks vs 4 for Latvia) and after the wake-up call from the first set, managed to control the game in the decisive moments. Jolan Cox was shining for the winning team becoming best attacker as the overall performance of Belgium in this component was 54% of success rate.

- Latvia started very well in the match with 18 winning spikes. Kristaps Šmits was top performing on the attack, and supported by his teammates, helped the most for Latvia to win the first set.

- Belgium reacted quickly and with nine winning spikes in the beginning of the second set, with Sam Deroo and Kobe Brems contributing the most in these moments, took control of the game. Jolan Cox also shone in decisive moments with his spikes and serves.

- The problems for the team led by head coach Avo Keel continued in the next set. Deroo and Cox continued on disturbing Latvia's reception and with 59% efficiency on attack, the Red Dragons took the lead. 

- Latvia stood better in the fourth set starting a cat-and-mouse game. Showing equal skills on this component, it was the stronger play on the net with another 4 blocks by Belgium that became the key to the success.

- Belgium's Deroo became top scorer with 20 points to his name, while Cox added 14 becoming best attacker together with Deroo. Lennert Van Elsen was the man of the match on the block, recording 6 and helping this way his team to victory.