Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy have secured their spots for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, following their respective title victories in the 2023 Sitting Volleyball European Championships at Palamare Valter Vicentini on Sunday.
Bosnia and Herzegovina bagged their 11th continental title after a fantastic comeback to win 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 28-30, 25-20, 15-6) against Germany in the men’s final.
Safet Alibasic, Mirzet Duran and Ermin Jusufovic carried the offensive and defensive loads for Bosnia and Herzegovina, combining for 58 points to outplay Germany’s Dominik Albrecht, Heiko Wiesenthal and Juergen Schrapp, who tallied 54 markers.
Alibasic made 22 points, while Duran and Jusofovic chipped in 18 points each. Jusofovic was the main defensive man at the net with eight blocks, while Alibasic and Duran deflected six and four German attacks, respectively.
After splitting the wins in the first two sets, the Germans gained ground from their hard-fought 30-28 win in the third set, but the Bosnians managed to get their rhythm back to win the fourth and dictated the tempo in the final set to clinch the title.
Ukraine settled for silver with a straight-set (25-17, 25-12, 25-16) triumph over Poland.
In the women’s final, Italy regrouped after conceding the second frame to clinch the title with a four-set (25-17, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22) finish over Slovenia. The Italians led on all fronts with a total of 43 attacks, 12 aces and 15 stuff blocks.
Francesca Bosio once again stepped up on offence with 18 points, including 12 spikes, four blocks and two service winners. This time, she had three of her teammates helping in scoring, as Giulia Bellandi (13), Eva Ceccatelli (12) and Roberta Pedrelli (10) all had double-digit outputs to match the intensity of Slovenian trio Klara Vrabic (17), Valentyna Brik (16) and Lena Gabrscek (12).
In the women’s bronze medal match, Ukraine outplayed Germany 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 25-12).
FINAL STANDINGS
Men
1. Bosnia and Herzegovina
2. Germany
3. Ukraine
4. Poland
5. Croatia
6. Latvia
7. Serbia
8. Italy
9. Hungary
10. Türkiye
11. Lithuania
12. Slovenia
Women
1. Italy
2. Slovenia
3. Ukraine
4. Germany
5. Hungary
6….
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