The Yellow Tigers lost 3-0 to Serbia, the European and world champion and bronze medalist from Tokyo yesterday, but their performance on the pitch gave them a boost.
As number 11 in the world they went against number 5 Russia, the 7th at the Games, free and clear their chance. They got off to a great start (12-6), but a tremendous reception dip followed halfway through. With the Russian star Federovtseva (only 17) on the serve, Russia scored 9 points (!) in a row. Nevertheless, Belgium continued to cling.
The final phase of the 1st set degenerated into a nervous hassle, both for Belgium and Russia. Belgium was the first to force 2 set balls, but they were missed. Russia also missed set chances. Setball 3 and 4 was also lost to the Belgians, who did not play it well.
In a confused phase, Russia got the 29-30 after a challenge, incomprehensible for the Belgians. But the set was gone: 29-31.
In the second set, the Tigers failed to score and were trailing the entire time (from 4-8 to 12-19). In Russia everything worked out in reception, offensively it barely missed anything. There was a brief revival, but Belgium faced a 0-2 deficit: 21-24.
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Anyone who had seen the 2nd set did not give a penny more for the Tigers’ chances. But they again showed their well-known fighting spirit. They had also rectified a lost situation a few times in the Nations League with a 3-2 win.
And that also happened now: in set 3 Belgium first fell 0-4 behind, but then the machine started to turn. Especially the serves kept getting better and better. Herbots and co trumped on all fronts. the Russians: 25-13.
In the 4th set Belgium was also the best away (6-4), but for a while a scenario like in set 1 was coming with 5 points in a row for
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