Czech volleyball players advanced to the playoffs of the European Championships. How do the eight-final pairs look like?

This year’s European Women’s Volleyball Championships will be hosted by Belgium, Estonia, Italy and Germany. It is on the soil of our neighbours that the Czech national team played its group matches. Coach Giannis Athanasopoulos’ charges managed to advance from second place to the knockout stage. Who will they face in the eighth round and how do the other pairs of opponents look like?

The Czech Republic’s players did not enter the tournament well last Friday. They made their way into the playoffs with a clear three-set loss right from the start. They lost to Azerbaijan after 21:25, 10:25 and 15:25.

Two days later, they made up for their hesitation by not allowing their opponents to win a single set. The team, which also includes the experienced smasher Helena Havelkova, returning to six-man volleyball from beach volleyball, won against Greece 25:21, 25:22 and 17:25.

As expected, the Czechs were no match for Turkey, but took the first set and lost 1:3. The subsequent match against the home team Germany turned out to be one of the key matches. There was a big drama in Düsseldorf on Tuesday night.

The German team did not keep the two-set lead and let the Czechs tie the match at 2:2. The almost three-hour long duel was decided by a tiebreaker. In it the Czechs first turned away a match point and then used their third one to win 18:16.

They needed to take at least two sets from the Swedes on Thursday to be sure of advancing. They managed to do that and also helped themselves to the second place in Group C thanks to the final victory 25:23, 25:20 and 25:22. This was finally confirmed in the evening by the three-set triumph of the sovereign Turkey in their duel with Germany.

“We have shown that we have a huge strength, we can stand in if someone is not doing well. I think nobody expected second place after that first match,” captain Michaela Mlejnková told CT Sport.

So who will the Czech Republic challenge in the eighth round? The opponent in Brussels will be Ukraine, who finished third in the preliminary Group A, played in the Belgian capital. The Eastern Europeans will not have to move to another venue. The match is scheduled for Monday 28 August.

If they make it through, they could face the Swedes again in the quarter-finals. The favourites in their semi-final match will be the reigning world champions from Serbia. They are also the current European vice-champions.

In the final of the last European Championships they fell short to the Italians, who will play Spain at home in Florence. Among others, the Slovaks are also in the knockout phase and will face the Bulgarians. Below are all the pairs of teams that will play each other for a place among the top eight teams of the old continent.

The 2023 Women’s Volleyball European Championship runs until Sunday 3 September, with the final matches taking place in Belgium. Live coverage of the feast of sport under the high network is broadcast by CT Sport.

Women’s Volleyball European Championship 2023 semi-final pairings

Netherlands – Switzerland

Bulgaria – Slovakia

Serbia – Sweden

Czech Republic – Ukraine

Italy – Spain

France – Romania

Turkey – Belgium

Poland – Germany

Source: CEV, CT Sport