2018 FIVB MEN’S CHALLENGER CUP:
- June 20-24, 2018
- Matosinhos, Portugal
FORMAT:
- What’s on the line?
- The winning team of the tournament move on to the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, replacing the lowest ranked challenger team from the 2018 event
- Six teams are split into two pools (three in each)
- The six are made up of the host nation (Portugal), South American qualifier (Chile), Asian qualifier (Kazakhstan), North American qualifier (Cuba) and Golden European League qualifiers (Estonia & Czech Republic)
- The top two teams from each three-team pool will move on to the semifinals
- Pool A#1 vs. Pool B#2 & Pool B#1 vs. Pool A#2
RESULTS:
Final Four:
- World Rankings: #16 Cuba, #27 Czech Republic, #30 Portugal, #32 Estonia
Gold Medal Match:
PORTUGAL DEF. CZECH REPUBLIC 3-1
- Portugal def. Czech Republic 3-1 (18-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-16)
- Portugal wins Gold at 4-0; Czech Republic earns Silver at 3-1
For the first time in the event, Portugal lost a set. It happened right off the bat too, as Czech Republic was feeling well early. However, the Portuguese side regained their form to win in four sets, earning Gold and a promotion to the 2019 FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League.
It was all about the Portuguese attack (53-36 in spikes) and serve (8-4 in aces) in the match. They were more aggressive, which hurt them for nine more errors, but the trade-off was keeping Czech Republic out of system more often and knocking down some impressive kills. They also led in team blocks, 9-8.
The trio of Jan Hadrava (12 points), Donovan Dzavoronok (11 points) and Petr Michalek (10 points) were strong for the Czech side, but with no other players above four points they couldn’t match Portugal. That’s because Alexandre Ferreira (22 points) and Marco Ferreira (19 points) were nearly unstoppable and three more players notched between five and 11 points additionally in leading them to Gold.
Bronze Medal Match
ESTONIA DEF. CUBA 3-0
- Estonia def. Cuba 3-0 (30-28, 25-21, 25-16)
- Estonia finishes 3rd at 2-2; Cuba finishes 4th at
Although it wasn’t quite the reward of competing for Gold and a spot in the 2019 Volleyball Nations League, there was still an award on the line as Estonia downed Cuba in straight sets for Bronze.
Cuba was actually the more thrilling team on the offensive side with four more kills, but the Estonians were more efficient with the kills they did put down and they had eight less team errors. Additionally, they notched an 8-5 advantage in blocks and 4-1 in aces.
Individually, Miguel David Gutierrez Suarez (15 points) led the match in scoring with Cuba, but Renee Teppan (14 points) and Rauno Tamme (12 points) weren’t far behind for the Estonian side.
Full Schedule:
Pool A:
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jun | 21:00 | Portugal  |
3–0 |  Estonia |
25–19 | 25–16 | 25–20 | 75–55 | |||
| 21 Jun | 18:00 | Estonia |
3–1 |  Kazakhstan |
25–22 | 19–25 | 25–19 | 25–20 | 94–86 | ||
| 22 Jun | 21:00 | Kazakhstan |
0–3 | Portugal |
23–25 | 19–25 | 16–25 | 58–75 |
Pool B:
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jun | 18:00 | Cuba  |
0–3 |  Czech Republic |
19–25 | 22–25 | 21–25 | 62–75 | |||
| 21 Jun | 21:00 | Czech Republic |
3–0 |  Chile |
25–15 | 25–17 | 25–18 | 75–50 | |||
| 22 Jun | 18:00 | Chile |
1–3 | Cuba |
36–38 | 22–25 | 31–29 | 19–25 | 108–117 |
Semifinals
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Jun | 15:00 | Czech Republic |
3–1 | Estonia |
29–31 | 27–25 | 25–18 | 25–21 | 106–95 | ||
| 23 Jun | 18:00 | Portugal |
3–0 | Cuba |
25–22 | 25–21 | 26–24 | 76–67 |
3rd place match
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Jun | 15:00 | Estonia |
3–0 | Cuba |
30–28 | 25–21 | 25–16 | 80–65 |
Final
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Jun | 18:00 | Czech Republic |
1–3 | Portugal |
25–18 | 22–25 | 19–25 | 16–25 | 82–93 |
STANDINGS:
Pool A
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 | Portugal |
2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | MAX | 150 | 113 | 1.327 |
| 2 | Estonia |
1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0.750 | 149 | 161 | 0.925 |
| 3 | Kazakhstan |
0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.167 | 144 | 169 | 0.852 |
Pool B:
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 | Czech Republic |
2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | MAX | 150 | 112 | 1.339 |
| 2 | Cuba |
1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0.750 | 179 | 183 | 0.978 |
| 3 | Chile |
0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.167 | 158 | 192 | 0.823 |
Leave a Reply