VakıfBank opened the new season with a trophy after completing last season with three titles. The team defeated Eczacıbaşı Peron İstanbul 3-2 to claim their sixth AXA Sigorta Şampiyonlar Kupası title. Following the victory, VakıfBank president Osman Arslan said: “This trophy is the first step on what will be a challenging journey for us this year. We have four more trophies that we want to win. I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate our players, who reflected the VakıfBank spirit, fighting spirit and desire to win on the court, as well as our coaching staff, management and all our colleagues who have worked tirelessly for the success of this team.”
VakıfBank claimed the AXA Sigorta Şampiyonlar Kupası for the sixth time after beating Eczacıbaşı Peron Istanbul 3-2 in a five-set thriller in Antalya.
VakıfBank made the stronger start, with Marina Markova scoring seven points and Tijana Boskovic adding six as it took the opening set 25-21 after 29 minutes. The second set was closely contested throughout. Eczacıbaşı opened up a 16-12 lead before VakıfBank levelled at 19-19. With Markova producing 10 points in the set, VakıfBank kept their composure in the closing stages and capitalized on their opponent’s errors to take it 25-23 and move within one set of the title. Eczacıbaşı responded by taking the third set 25-19 and the fourth 25-17 to force a deciding tie-break. VakıfBank regained control in the fifth set, winning 15-10 to seal a 3-2 victory and claim the Şampiyonlar Kupası for the sixth time.
Osman Arslan: “The target is 5 out of 5 again”
Following the victory, VakıfBank General Manager and VakıfBank Sports Club President Osman Arslan said: “We are delighted to win the first trophy of the season today. We finished last season with three championships, marking another historic season for the club. This season, we will compete for five trophies. The target is 5-for-5 again…
I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate our players, who reflected the VakıfBank spirit, fighting spirit and desire to win on the court; our coaching staff, management and all our colleagues who have put in tremendous effort for the success of this team. I would also like to thank our supporters, who, as always, have stood by our team and gave us strength with their support in Antalya.
“The first step on a challenging journey”
This trophy is not only our first championship of the new season, but also the first step on what will be a challenging journey for us this year. We have four more trophies that we want to win. We will work with everything we have to compete at the highest level in every competition, keep the VakıfBank name at the top and achieve all of our goals by the end of the season. Congratulations to the entire VakıfBank family on winning the Şampiyonlar Kupası.”
Giovanni Guidetti: “We started with a smile, but what matters is finishing the season with a smile”
VakıfBank head coach Giovanni Guidetti said following the title win: “I want to congratulate my players because they showed big fighting spirit. I want to thank my staff because we faced a number of physical issues, which are normal at this stage of the season. But our medical staff and our strength and conditioning staff managed to get the team into very good shape. We are not in perfect physical condition, our attacking power dropped, but we stayed in the match and kept fighting. I also want to thank my club and our management, who always give me an incredible team. Once again, I want to congratulate my players because they really wanted to win this trophy. We are starting with a smile, but we know that in sport, what really matters is finishing with a smile. So we have to forget about today because we want to finish the season smiling.”
Zehra Güneş: “I hope we can continue the season with more trophies like this”
VakıfBank captain Zehra Güneş was named the Most Valuable Player of the match. Reflecting on the trophy, Güneş said: “I’m very happy to have started the season this way. Starting with a trophy is a great motivation and a sign of what we can achieve. Of course, this match will not define our season, but I’m very happy that we came out on the winning side. I hope we can continue the season by winning more trophies like this. I wish us a healthy and happy season in which we achieve all of our goals.”
VakıfBank will be back in action on Sunday, October 11, as they travel to İzmir to take on Göztepe in the second round of the Vodafone Sultanlar Ligi.
VENUE: Antalya Spor Salonu
REFEREES: Yavuz Akdemir, Sevilay Gezer Boyacı
VAKIFBANK: Deniz Uyanık 1, Cansu Özbay 2, Marina Markova 29, Zehra Güneş 16, Tijana Boskovic 15, Helena Cazaute 6, Eylül Akarçeşme Yatgın (L), Monika Brancuska 1, Berka Buse Özden 3, Naz Aydemir Akyol 1, Vanja Ivanovic 2
ECZACIBAŞI PERON İSTANBUL: Elif Şahin 4, Ebrar Karakurt 23, Aslı Kalaç 2, Ekaterina Antrapova 20, Aleksandra Uzelac 14, Camilla Weitzel 12, Simge Aköz (L), Dana Rettke 2
SETS: 25-21, 25-23, 19-25, 17-25, 15-10
SET DURATIONS: 29’, 31’, 27’, 29', 19’
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