Russia crash out of European volleyball championships

Turkey have caused a major upset at the Women's European Volleyball Championship, co-hosted by Serbia and Italy, beating favorites Russia in the quarter-finals.

The Russians started with confidence and had a set ball in the opener, but the Turkish girls turned the game upside down. They managed to take the first set as well as the two other to cruise to a 3-0 victory (25:27, 21:25, 19:25). The best player in the Russian team, Katya Gamova, collected just 9 points, while the Turkish leader, Neriman Ozsoy, finished the game with 13 points. Russia coach, Vladimir Kuzyutkin, explained his team’s disapointing display by the absence of several key players at the tournament. “I can’t criticize my team even after such a result,” he told Sport-Express newspaper. “The reason why we lost is clear to any specialist. But it’s no excuse. It’s the reality we had before the start of the event. And, despite trying hard, we couldn’t compensate the losses.”The Turks will face the winner of the match between Serbia and Poland in the semis on October 1.