European Championship

BERLIN, Germany, 13 September - France defeated defending European Champion Serbia & Montenegro in Saturday's semifinal of the 2003 Men's European Championship here in Berlin, Germany. The World Championship bronze medallist took the victory after a five sets thriller (3-2) and only won the fifth set tiebreaker 16-14. France will meet Italy in Sunday's final. In the other semifinal, Italy blew Russia of the court (3-0).

France is scoring remarkable results during the last two years. In 2002, the French squad surprised by winning the bronze medal during the World Championship in Argentina. Here in Germany, the victory over the current Olympic and European Champion brought 'Les Bleus' in the European Final for the first time since 1987.

The match between the two giants was a clash of styles. France played terrific in defense, while Serbia and Montenegro was better in block and attack. There was almost no difference between the two teams. A Serbian reception mistake on a serve on Olivier Kieffer brought France the victory. In the entire match, France digged 59 Serbian attacks. Serbia & Montenegro only digged 18 French spikes.

France didn't only achieve a place in the final of the event where the best twelve teams of the world's strongest volleyball continent meet, but also claimed a ticket for the World Cup, the first Olympic Qualification tournament to be held in Japan in November.

Italy completely blew Russia of the court in Saturday's first semifinal. The 1999 European Champion expected a tough match against the vice-World Champion, but it turned out that the Squadra Azzurra ran over the Russian Rockets. It took the Italians just more than one hour to claim a place in the final and get qualified for the World Cup.

Andrea Sartoretti was the star on the Italian side. The lefthander scored 23 points. On the Russian side, no played finished with double figures.

The final between France and Italy will be an exciting match. The two teams already met in the preliminary pool round. Italy won the match played in Karlsruhe 3-1.
Results Saturday 13 September 2003

Semifinals
RUS - ITA 0-3 (18-25, 18-25, 16-25)
SCG - FRA 2-3 (22-25, 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 14-16)

Classification 5-8
NED - ESP 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 18-16)
POL - GER 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 34-32, 25-22)