Egypt and Ukraine into Challenger Cup Final Four

The semifinals of the FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup 2024 are set after Egypt and Ukraine triumphed in the second day of action in Linyi, China, and overcame the quarterfinal round of the tournament that will qualify the winners for the Volleyball Nations League 2025.

• Watch Volleyball Challenger Cup 2024 live on VBTV

Following the conclusion of the quarterfinals on Friday, the semifinals were confirmed, with the Egyptian playing hosts China, on Saturday, at 16:00 local time (08:00 GMT), and the Ukrainians battling continental rivals Belgium four hours later.

Set to compete at the Paris Olympics in a few weeks, Egypt got one step closer to qualifying for the VNL 2025 with their 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 20-25, 15-13) win over Qatar in the quarterfinals of the Challenger Cup in China. With that, the Egyptians have already improved from the fifth-place finish they got in their only appearance, in 2019.

Outside hitter Mohamed Issa led the Egyptian offense in the match with 20 points (17 kills, two aces, one block), followed by middle blocker Mohamed Dola, with 17, and opposite Reda Haikal, with 16.

“We started the match well today, but we started having issues with our passing and defense and that complicated things,” Egyptian captain Youssef Abdalla said. “We tried to adapt because Qatar played very well. The semifinals will be a big game for us. China are a good team and we’ll do our best to win and advance.”

Qatar centered their offensive efforts in opposite Youssef Oughlaf, who produced 25 points (23 kills, one block, one ace), and outside hitter Mohamed Waleed, who added 20 (18 kills, two blocks).

Volleyball Challenger Cup – Match Schedule and Results

Ukraine complete comeback against Chile

Ukraine had a difficult start in their quarterfinal match against Chile, but came back to win 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-19) and advance to the semifinals for a second-straight season – they were third in 2023.

Opposite Viktor Shapoval was Ukraine’s highest-scorer in the match, leaving the court with 14 points (13 kills, one ace). Outside hitter Yevhenii Kisiliuk and middle blocker Oleksandr Koval produced 12 points each.

“Coming into the Challenger Cup, the most important things for us are having the right spirit and connecting well with our teammates,” middle blocker Maksym Drozd reflected. “We had some changes after the European Golden League and the new team didn’t have much time to practice. I thought we had a decent performance today.”

Chile had the match’s top scorer in outside hitter Vicente Parraguirre, who tallied 16 points, with 13 kills, two blocks and one ace. Fellow outside hitter Vicente Ibarra registered 12 points and middle blocker Tomas Gago, 10.

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