The first round of European cups experienced a „turkish storm“, as all four Champions league and CEV cup participants have won their matches.
Good start for Arkas and Fenerbahce in Champions League
With exception of the third set, Fenerbahce which has their devoted fans and noisy supporters all around Europe smashed Innsbruck on their home court 3:1 (22-25, 15-25, 25-21, 16-25). 21 and 18 points from Miljkovic & Marshall brought 4th victory of 4 competition matches of this season to Fenerbahce.
„Especially at the beginning of the match,“ Innsbruck coach Stefan Chrtiansky explained, „some unforced errors made it difficult for us although I believe that there were moments where we could have caught up with Fenerbahce, but didn’t execute clever enough.“ In the next match, Fenerbahce will face Macerata in Istanbul.
In match against CSKA Sofia, Arkas Izmir lost the first set 20:25. But then Turks (actually only two of them among the starters) improved their reception, avoided unforced errors and effectively used their middleblockers. After third set lost 25:13, Bulgarians gave up and lost 3:1. With 22 points, Joao Paulo Bravo of Arkas became the star of the game.
“Under attacks of Evgeni Ivanov (10 points), we were hardly struggling in the first set. After, we maintained pressure on CSKA by our serves and Bravo became our well-focused leader on the court. Nevertheless, we need to play better. CSKA will improve their game as well,” said Arkas coach Glenn Hoag. His team is going to Belgium to face Noliko Maaseik which lost 2:3 in the first round against Iraklis Thessaloniki.
Emphatic victories in CEV Cup
Two participants of CEV Cup played their first matches at home court. Istanbul BBSK defeated Unicaja Almeria 3:0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-21).
Gundars Celitans, Can Ayvazoglu and Özkan Hayirli were the main attack forces of Halkbank Ankara which defeated Czestochowa 3:0 ((25-16, 25-21, 25-21) in Ankara and is looking forward to the return match in Poland.
All Turkish teams were playing with black ribbons to remember 26 soldiers who died in clashes in the south-eastern Turkey.
