The men’s national team of Poland and the first women’s team of Turkiye triumphed at the FIVB Snow Volleyball World Tour event that came to an end in Uludag near Bursa on Sunday. France and hosts Turkiye completed the men’s podium, while the teams of Moldova and Turkiye 2 earned women’s silver and bronze, respectively.
Eight men’s and 11 women’s teams from France, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Turkiye and Ukraine took part in the three-day tournament.
Poland climbed on top of the men’s podium, claiming the country’s first ever gold on the World Tour in either gender. They had one previous medal, a bronze from the 2019 event in Kronplatz, Italy. Two of the players on the current squad – Michal Matyja and Piotr Groszek – were also among the players, who earned the historic achievement seven years ago during the inaugural season of the FIVB Snow Volleyball World Tour. Igor Ciemachowski and Tomasz Jaroszczak were the other two members of the team that triumphed in Turkiye on Sunday.
Poland finished runners-up to France in Pool B of the first stage of the tournament. They went on to deliver a 2-0 (15-8, 16-14) quarterfinal win over Turkiye 5 and a 2-1 (15-8, 12-15, 15-9) semifinal win over Turkiye 1 to set up another encounter with France in the final. The Poles got back at the French for the loss in pool with a hard-fought 2-1 (15-10, 11-15, 15-12) victory in the gold medal showdown to snatch the trophy.
It was France’s first loss of the tournament. They crowned their four-game winning streak with a 2-0 (15-8, 15-9) semifinal victory over Turkiye 3 to secure the country’s first World Tour medal in either gender.
The first team of host nation Turkiye took bronze after a tough 2-1 (16-14, 13-15, 15-7) win over their compatriots of Turkiye 3 and became the country’s first representatives to make it to a men’s World Tour podium.
On the women’s side, Turkiye added two medals to their World Tour collection, which already had a full set of three medals from last year’s event in Erzurum Palandoken.
Turkiye’s first team, starring Europe’s multiple Queens of the Snow Merve Celebi and Simge Yalcin, along with Nursel Yaren Sencel and Zehra Ilgim Katre Goklu, cruised through the competition in Uludag without dropping a set in the four matches played. In the semifinals, they produced a 2-0 (15-10, 18-16) victory over Turkiye 4, and in the final, they battled it out for a 2-0 (16-14, 15-12) win over Moldova. It was the second World Tour gold for three of the team’s members – Celebi, Yalcin and Sencel.
By bringing home silver, the Moldovan team marked a historic success for the country – the first World Tour medal in either gender. They reached the semifinals on a run of four consecutive straight-set wins and then secured their spot on the podium with a 2-1 (15-12, 12-15, 15-10) semifinal victory over Turkiye 4.
In the bronze medal game, Turkiye 2 beat Turkiye 4 by 2-0 (15-10, 15-8).
Photo source: tvf.org.tr
