Paris (AFP)
The French volleyball players, who have been competing in their first European Championship for six years, have lost with honors against Serbia, the reigning world and European champion, by winning a set (25-19, 25-13, 17 -25, 25-23), on Monday in Ankara at Euro-2019.
The players of Émile Rousseaux won their first match against Bulgaria 3 sets to 2 and lost to Greece 3 sets to 0. They will face Finland on Tuesday (16h00) in a crucial match in the race for the qualification for 8th finals of the continental competition.
Monday in Turkey, the Blue made a very good start of the match, escaping to the score in the first set (6-1, 11-7 then 17-13), before cracking completely and yielding the sleeve 25-19 .
Improved in the second act (25-13) by the Serbs, N.1 worldwide and recently qualified for the Olympics 2020 where they will play the title, the young French women (half of the workforce is 22 years old or under) have achieved an excellent third round, won 25-17 thanks to a nice series of Manon Moreels at the end of the set.
The French women touched the hopes of pushing the holders of the continental title in the tie break, leading 19-16 in the fourth set, but had to surrender 25-23 after a good fight of over an hour and a half, encouraging for this team under construction in the optics of the JO-2024 in Paris.
© 2019 AFP