World Club Championships 2012
Trentino in semi-finals
Trentino Diatec-Sada Cruzeiro 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 26-24, 19-25, 21-19)
TRENTINO DIATEC: Djuric 5, Raphael 3, Juantorena 20, Birarelli 13, Stokr 21, Kaziyski 11, Bari (L); Colaci, Burgsthaler 3, Lanza, Uchikov. DNP. Sintini. Coach. Radostin Stoytchev.
SADA: Acacio 11, Arjona, Filipe 11, Douglas 13, Wallace 32, Leal 12, Serginho (L); Gramignoli, Sanchez 5. DNP. Borges Almeida, Nogueira, Silva. Coach. Marcelo Mendez.
Trentino remained unbeaten in the first phase of the World Club Championships. The World champions had the better of Cruzeiro 3-2 and an epic game played at a superb level. This victory means the Italians finished top of the group and will be in the semi-finals, to take place on October 18. Stoytchev’s boys will know their future opponent tomorrow.
To come out on top against the Brazilians, Trentino needed all its energy, composure and experience. The pair Stokr and Juantorena combined for 41 points and 54% in attack, while Birarelli had 6 blocks. In the fifth set, Cruzeiro cancelled no less than 5 match points before surrendering 21-19. A Stokr spike and Burgsthaler block on Wallace did the trick for Trentino.
“We played at a good level, we have to be proud to have beaten such a strong team like the Cruzeiro – said coach Stoytchev – There has been a lot of positive notes: the main one has to be that we always managed to stay in the game, we have been mentally strong, even when things were not going our way. It’s a huge win but we have to keep our feet on the ground and focus exclusively on Thursday’s semi-final. We have a day and a half to prepare the game, we have to do our maximum”.
Results
Saturday October 13
Sada Cruzeiro (BRA) – Tigres de UANL (MEX) 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-18)
PGE Skra Belchatow (POL) – Zamalek Sporting Club (EGY) 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 28-26)
Trentino Diatec (ITA) – Al Rayan (QAT) 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 15-9)
Sunday October 14
Al Arabi (QAT) – Zenit Kazan (RUS) 1-3 (22-25, 22-25, 31-29, 18-25)
Trentino Diatec (ITA) – Tigres de UANL (MEX) 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-20)
Sada Cruzeiro (BRA) – Al Rayan (QAT) 3-1(25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22)
Monday October 15
Al Arabi (QAT) – Zamalek Sporting Club (EGY) 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-20)
Zenit Kazan (RUS) – PGE Skra Belchatow (POL) 2-3 (25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 19-25, 10-15)
Fixtures
Tuesday October 16
Al Rayan (QAT) – Tigres de UANL (MEX)
Wednesday 17
2pm: Zenit Kazan (RUS) – Zamalek Sporting Club (EGY)
6pm: PGE Skra Belchatow (POL) – Al Arabi (QAT)
Thursday 18
Semi-finals (2 and 6pm)
Friday 19
2pm: Game for third place
6pm: Final Live on Sportitalia 2
All the schedule is at the Italian time (Qatar + 1)
