2006 Women's World Championshi
Greece and the Ukraine start perfectly (FIVB)
06/10/2005
Athens,
Greece, June 10, 2005 – Tournament favourites Greece,
ranked 13th in the world and the Ukraine(37), opened the
2006 Women’s World Championship second round tournament
(Europe Pool E) successfully on Friday with straight set
victories over France(56) and Belarus(56) respectively.
Both Greece and the Ukraine are expected to seal the two
tickets on offer to the top two sides in the tournament
and advance to the third round with both France and
Belarus having arrived in Athens via first round
tournaments. It’s an exciting stage for the 2006 Women’s
World Championship in Europe with Greece, the Ukraine,
Belarus and France all looking to follow Azerbaijan and
Belgium into the third round. Pic: Greece's GeorgiaTzanakaki gives a lovely tip
over the net against Belarus
The Ukraine were particularly in an imposing mood taking
only just over an hour to beat France 3-0 (25-19, 25-17,
25-11) while Greece comfortably beat Belarus 3-0 (25-19,
25-22, 25-19).
The Ukrainians scored an impressive six aces (to
France's none) and out blocked the French nine to three,
as they sailed to a comfortable victory.
"We didn't know a lot about the French team, we only
knew of the strengths of some individual players, such
as [Victoria] Ravva and [Karine] Salinas,” Ukraine coach
Igor Filishtynskyy said. “In the end we played well
today, although we shouldn't count on this for the next
games".
Saturday sees France play Belarus followed by a
fascinating fixture between the two favourites Greece
and the Ukraine.
Meanwhile, another European second round tournament
starts on Saturday with Croatia, Slovakia, Serbia and
Montenegro and the Czech Republic taking on each other
in Europe Pool F in Zagreb running until Monday.
