Dubai, United Arab Emirates, August 28, 2015 – Russia defeated Turkey in grueling five setter 3-2 (21-25, 25-15, 25-23, 23-25, 15-8) in pool B exciting face off at Al Ahli Club in Dubai, on Friday.
With this victory, Russia stayed unbeaten while Turkey faced their first loss. Gokhan Gokgoz of Turkey was the best scorer with 21 points. Russia’s Egor Kliuka scored 20 points.
Turkey started the game with Gokhan Gokgoz and Metin Toy’s effective play on the net. Gokgoz’s spike made it 13-9 and forced Russia coach Mikhail Nikolaev to take a timeout. Turkish team protected the gap till the end and won the set 25-21.
Russian setter Pavel Pankov’s serves made it 4-0 at the beginning of the second set and they led 8-2 in the first technical timeout. When the game resumes, Russian team managed to extend the gap up to 10 points at 16-6. Turkey could not be able to give an answer and Russia won the set 25-15.
Both teams scored successive block points on the net at the beginning of the third set. Game was well balance and lead changed between teams many times. At the end, Russia was the side with fewer mistakes and won the set 23-25.
Russia started the fourth set with a better block-defence system which brought them a lead at 11-9. Turkey coach Emanuele Zanini’s timeout worked for his team and Turkey scored seven points in a row to make it 16-11 but Russia levelled the game at 17-all. The end of the set was a real fight and Turkey forced the match to a tie break by 25-23.
In the tie break, Russia was the stronger side. Young Russians led 8-4 in the court change and never looked back to close the game 15-8