Perugia ready to defend their world title against Minas

Sir Sicoma Perugia continue to progress in their plan to defend the world title they won a year ago at the 2023 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship, in Bengaluru, India.

The Italian giants triumphed in the all-European semifinal against Türkiye’s Halkbank Spor Kulübü at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium on Saturday and will now face Brazil's Itambé Minas for the title of the tournament on Sunday, at 20:30 local time (15:00 GMT).

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The current SuperLega Credem Banca leaders are trying to become just the third team to successfully defend their Men’s Club World Championship title, joining fellow Italians Itas Trentino (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) and Brazil’s Sada Cruzeiro Vôlei (2015, 2016).

In the semifinals, Perugia had another dominant performance in Bengaluru, winning their third straight match without dropping a set and topping Halkbank 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 31-29).

Polish outside hitter Kamil Semeniuk was the match’s stop scorer with 15 points (13 kills, one ace, one block). Cuban opposite Jesus Herrera also had a strong display, producing 13 points (11, two aces) for the Italians.

"After playing very well in the first sets, it was very important that we didn't let our level drop," Semeniuk reflected. "I thought we did a great job with that, dealing very well with the challenging moments. Now we focus on the final and we'll do everything we can to win again."

Team captain and opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz led Halkbank’s offense with nine points (seven kills, one ace, one block), followed by middle blocker Mert Mátic, who registered eight, all in kills.

FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship - Match Schedule and Results

Minas to play for their first gold

In the second semifinal, Minas needed five sets to secure a dramatic 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 28-30, 25-20, 17-15) win over Japan's Suntory Sunbirds. Cuban opposite Michael Sanchez led Minas with 27 points (26 kills, one block), while fellow opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy fired 23 (22 kills, one block) for the Asians.

Playing in the Club World Championship for just the third time, Minas have already guaranteed their best result in the event, improving from their fourth-place finish from 2022.

"I'm really grateful and emotional," said libero Maique Nascimento. "It was a long road for us to get to this moment and that's the result of the work of everyone at Minas, a club that invests a lot in developing athletes. We're representing an entire project here and that's really nice."

Perugia and Minas played each other on Thursday, in Pool A, and the Italians prevailed in straight sets. The teams also met in the semifinals of last year's edition of the tournament and the result was the same.

The first Turkish club to compete at the Men’s Club World Championships, Halkbank will face the Sunbirds on Sunday, at 17:00 local time (11:30 GMT), in the bronze medal match.

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