Belgium’s stunning comeback sets them up against Heynen’s China in Challenger Cup final

Belgium and Belgian coach Vital Heynen’s China will battle for gold in the final edition of the men’s Volleyball Challenger Cup on Sunday, also vying for a ticket to next year’s Volleyball Nations League. In Saturday’s semifinals at the Linyi Olympic Sport Park, the European team mounted a fierce comeback from two sets down against Ukraine, powered by a fantastic Ferre Reggers with 31 points, after hosts China mastered a straight-set victory over Egypt in front of seven and a half thousand cheering fans. Sunday’s gold medal game will start at 17:00 local time (09:00 UTC). Egypt and Ukraine will clash for the bronze earlier in the day, at 13:30 (05:30).

• Watch Volleyball Challenger Cup 2024 live on VBTV

20-year-old Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers was on fire in the semifinal against Ukraine. He put up four kill blocks, scored an ace and spiked at a 62% success rate to produce a match-high 31 points towards a stunning 3-2 (21-25, 20-25, 25-15, 25-15, 15-11) comeback from two sets down. The westerners outplayed the easterners in spiking (59-54 in kills), blocking (10-7 in stuffs) and precision (31-34 in unforced errors), while Ukraine did better in serving (5-3 in aces). Outside hitter Seppe Rotty added another 18 points for Belgium, while middle blocker Wout D'heer also impressed with four kill blocks towards a 10-point tally. Outside and captain Yevhenii Kisiliuk and middle Maksym Drozd were Ukraine’s best scorers with 18 and 17 points, respectively.

Belgium had never played in the Volleyball Challenger Cup before, so they managed to reach the final at their rookie appearance in the competition.

“It will not be an easy game against China, like any game here. We’ve played two tie-breaks, so I am guessing it is going to be the same thing,” Reggers told VBTV after the game. “I saw China play and they play amazing. We played them last year in an Olympic qualifier and they were a really tough opponent. Now Vital is their coach. He is a Belgian coach, so it’s a special feeling. But we are also in a good mood, on a good drive, so I think we can win. We always have to go with this feeling into the next game, but for sure it is going to be a hard game. I don’t know how many points I scored today, but the most important thing is that we won as a team. We played as a constructive team and we helped each other play better, so this is a big ‘bravo’ to the team!”

In Saturday’s first semifinal, played in front of seven and a half thousand spectators on the stands, only the second set offered some suspense as China battled their way back from a five-point deficit to prevail in the overtime. The home team were well in control of the other two sets on the way to celebrating a 3-0 (25-15, 27-25, 25-19) victory over Egypt. The Asian squad outplayed their African opponents in all scoring elements, most notably in making fewer unforced errors (15 against 26). China’s outside hitter Zhang Jingyin topped the match charts with 14 points, all in attack. Opposite Wang Jingyi fired two aces and raised two kill blocks to finish with 12 points, while the other outside, Yu Yuantai, also aced twice and put up a kill block towards an 11-point tally. Egyptian opposite Reda Haikal was his team’s only player to reach the double digits. He put away two aces and collected a total of 11 points.

After being eliminated in the first match of their Challenger Cup debut last year, this year China made it all the way to the final and are one win away from returning to the VNL family.

“I feel very, very happy, because this was a tough match and we had many difficulties,” Wang Jingyi said. “We didn’t have a very good start in set two. We made several errors, but after our coach made some adjustments to the squad, finally we came back and took the set. This was a very good experience for our team.”

Volleyball Challenger Cup 2024: schedule and results

Quick links:
Volleyball Challenger Cup
VBTV
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter