The "Men's AXA Sigorta Cup Volleyball" tournament entered the quarter-final phase, and the third match of the schedule pitted İstanbul Gençlik Spor against ON Hotels Alanya Bld. Spor.
The match was played in Alanya, but the hosts never found the strength to stop the visitors. The team from Istanbul won decisively with a 3:0 (26:24, 25:18, 25:18) score and qualified for the semi-finals of the competition for the second consecutive time.
A decisive first set and complete control thereafter.
The match started evenly, with the first set being extremely contested and decided only in extra points – 26:24 for İstanbul Gençlik Spor.
After this moment, Alanya "lowered their guard," while the visitors gained momentum and completely dominated in attack, blocking, and serving until the end of the match.
Pádár began his Turkish adventure strongly.
İstanbul Gençlik Spor's new signing, Krisztián Pádár, made an impressive debut in Turkey. The Hungarian opposite hitter finished with 14 points, immediately demonstrating why he was brought in as a key figure.
Pádár's statistics:
14 points
+11 in efficiency rating
3 aces
1 block
53% attack success rate
32% efficiency
Iran national team captain Morteza Sharifi also scored 14 points, and Luciano Palonsky added 11, forming a stable double-digit trio in offense.
Alanya relied on Saadat.
For the hosts, Bardia Saadat was the top scorer with 15 points, but the support for him was not enough to seek a comeback.
Georgi Seganov's involvement
From a Bulgarian perspective, the appearance of former national setter Georgi Seganov was of interest, as he entered in the second set and remained on the court until the end.
Seganov attempted to attack once but without success, and on serve, he executed 5 serves, committing 2 errors.
Key match statistics
| Element | ON Hotels Alanya | İstanbul Gençlik Spor |
|---|---|---|
| Attack points | 29 | 41 |
| Blocks | 4 | 9 |
| Aces | 4 | 5 |
The numbers clearly show the complete dominance of İstanbul Gençlik Spor. Almost 30 attack points and a solid block gave the visitors comfort right after the first set.
What's next?
İstanbul Gençlik Spor is already in the semi-finals and awaits the winner of the Fenerbahçe / Spor Toto quarter-final to find out their next opponent in the battle for the trophy.
As for Kristijan Padar – his debut was more than promising, while Alanya and Georgi Seganov will have to quickly look for answers after this inglorious elimination.
