by Andy Skinner (GB Player) and Matt Rogers (Sitting Volleyball Development Manager)
For photos from the hosts in Poland please click here.
2009 European Championships
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Pool A |
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The Playing Squad
1 - Rakesh Maisuria (East London Lynx)
2 - Rob Richardson (East London Lynx)
3 - Anton Raimondo (East London Lynx)
4 - Keith Hill (Lincoln Sitting Volleyball Club)
5 - Kelvin Daniels (East London Lynx)
8 - Robbie Barrett (East London Lynx)
9 - John Munro (East London Lynx)
10 - Martin Chapman (Lincoln Sitting Volleyball Club)
11 – John Worrall (East London Lynx)
12 - Andrew Skinner (Lincoln Sitting Volleyball Club)
15 - Muzzafar Jabbar (East London Lynx)
18 - Asghar Nasimi (East London Lynx)
Team Staff
Gordon Neale (Team Manager)
- Ex national league player and referee
- Ex WOVD referee
- Ex GB coach for Sitting Volleyball
- Ex Vice President of WOVD
- Worked in disability sport for 25 years
- Currently Director of Events for Disability Sport Events in
- Awarded OBE in Queens Birthday Honours list 2002
- Essex Estonians Player 1974 to 1984
- Coach 1984 to 1990
- Mizuno Malory Assist Coach 1990-1994 (9 National League, KO cup and Super Cup wins)
- London Docklands 1994-to date KO Cup winners 2004 League & KO Cup winners 2007
- Wales Head coach 1986-1991
- England Juniors 1991-2000
- England Senior Men 2001
Ashley Trodden (Assistant Coach)
- Currently Study Sport & Exercise Science at
- Current NVL 1 player (Malory Eagles VC).
- Was part of the successful construction of the first Sitting Volleyball Club in the
- Current East London Lynx SVC player/coach having competed in various Foreign and home tournaments (
- Accredited EVA level 2/ FIVB level 1 coach.
- EVA Scholarship Coach.
- Physiotherapist with 7 years post graduate experience. Specialising in amputee rehabilitation, musculo-skeletal and sporting injuries.
- Post Graduate Diploma in Orthopaedic Medicine
- Currently completing Msc in Sport Medicine at Queen Mary's University London.
- Honorary events Physiotherapist at club level and corporate volleyball tournaments in
- Honorary sitting volleyball physiotherapist for team GB since 2008
Jun Zhang (Team Doctor)
- GP with specific interest in Sports Medicine
- Classifier European Championships 2007,
- Team Doctor for GB Sitting Volleyball at European Championships 2007,
- Classifier and medical advisor World Standing Volleyball World Cup 2008,
- Classifier Sitting Volleyball Eurocup 2008,
- Team doctor for GB sitting volleyball development team since 2006
- Team Doctor for GB Sitting Volleyball
- WOVD Classifier
- Classifier European Championships 2009,
Saturday
The Day started at 4:30 am for some of us from the North, getting ready and packed just in time for fellow players Keith Hill and Martin Chapman to meet me for our journey to Stanstead. After meeting up with the rest of the squad, we had a 2 hr flight to Gdansk, then 1 hr bus trip to Elblag to our accomodation. In the evening after dinner which consisted of Meatballs and potato, we had our first training session, which consisted mostly stretching using resistance tubes. We then were classified by the WOVD to ensure all players have an appropriate disablilty to take part in the competition. Eventually got back to our rooms at 9 where we retired for the evening.
Sunday
Morning Sitting Volleyball fans...
Day Two here in Elblag, the light breakfast despatched and another resistance training session finished. We then went off to the competition venue for a scrimmage match against the Russians who are in the worlds top 3. It was good to settle into the competition environment and a beneficial scrimmage match. We then stayed on to watch the Germans train as they are our first math tomorrow ( Mon ) at 3 pm GMT.
Monday
Competition Day...after the usual ham and cheese breakfast we headed down to the stadium for the Opening Ceremony. Various important people were in attendance to celebrate the start of the competition as well as show respect for the recent mining accent. One moment for alarm was our flag bearer fainting during the procedings but thankfully he made a quick recovery and appreciated the gifts presented to him by the players.
Down to the first match against the Germans. 2 years hard work was about to be tested against the Bronze medalists from the 2007 European Championships. After a gritty performance particularly in the first and third sets the Germans came out on top 3-0. Plans then started immediately for both the matches tomorrow starting at 09:00 vs Croatia followed by Greece later in the afternoon.
Click here for updated results from the ECVD website.
Tuesday
Today we had a very early start as we were first on against Croatia. Our neighbours from the accommodation caused us lots of problems with their precision serves and their speed of set. With Croatia dominating in most areas of the game, GB struggled to keep pace with them and lost the match 3-0.
In our second match of the day things started very promisingly against Hungry with GB leading at the first Technical Time-out. The set continued with the teams trading side-outs but unfortunately one run of serves towards the end cost GB the first set. With the momentum firmly with Hungary they accelerated into the 2nd set and a few unforced errors cost the side and Hungary grew in confidence and took the 2nd set comfortably. In the third set GB came out fighting and showed that they could compete at this level with plenty of scrambling defence and agressive attacks. The set again ended up going to Hungary but it was by far GBs most positive phase of play during the day.
We then had a team meal and a number of meetings in preperation for our match tomorrow with Greece. Since the start of the competition we have been scouting their matches and are confident of pushing them all the way, lets just hope all the training pays off!
For results, go to the local website (please click here.)
Wednesday
Today was again an early start and a swift transfer to the venue to start limbering up for the match we have targetted since the start of the tournament. We have a couple of minor knocks but other than that everyone is fit and ready to face Greece.
What a match...we led early on and dominated in the first two sets but then the Greeks came fighting back and lead 8-2 at the turn around in the 5th set. Our fighting spirit showed as we came through to win 3-2 and complete Great Britains first victory in the European Championships since the British Sitting Volleyball Programme was re-established.
Match Report
On the third day of competition Great Britain were first on court to meet their next opponents, Greece. With a crowd of over 100 spectators watching, all in the competition venue were entertained for just under 2 hours with a match that had plenty of twists and turns before finishing with a 3-2 victory to Great Britain.
The first set was a close encounter with Great Britain maintaining a 2 point lead for the majority of the set and they held their nerve through some clever attacking play by Mozffar Jabber.
In the second set GB started full of confidence and accelerated away with the set dominating with their serve and following it up with some excellent block defence. The 3rd and 4th Sets the Greeks picked up their game and adjusted their service receive unit and pulled away at the end of both sets to win them both to 17 points.
The final set didn’t start well for GB with them trailing 8-2 at the turnaround. They came back with style pulling back 2 or 3 points on each serve to level at 12 all. John Munro served the match out to complete Great Britain’s first competitive victory since the programme was resurrected in 2006.
Thoughts turned straight away to their next match against Ukraine where a victory will hopefully see them through to the quarter finals.
We've just come off court from our last pool play match with Ukraine and it is confirmed that we will go into the 9-12 play off matches after missing out on the top 8s. We lost 3-0 but continued our improvements with impressive performances in the first 2 sets although were slightly overrun in the 3rd. A great day for Sitting Volleyball and for Great Britain and we've now got a day off to prepare for our match against the hosts, Poland which will be a hostile environment as the crowds they've attacted for their matches have been in the hundreds!
Thursday
Day off! We met at 10 for breakfast, a full 3 hours after we have been meeting in recent days, think everyone apprecated the extra few hours in bed. Then we had a stretching session with our physio and team doctor to ensure that we are phyically ready for the matches coming up which will decide whether we finish 9-12.
Spent this afternoon watching the Semi Finals and the Greece/Poland match, we're going to be up against it with Poland but are up for the challenge!
Friday
Today we had the first of our play-off matches against Poland which will be the last for the hosts and also coincided with their womens team's last match so the atmosphere was loud but the British guys seemed to enjoy the challenge although the coaching staff will certainly need to rest their voices for tomorrow. We got over run in the first two sets with a number of players coming off the bench to stablise the team. The third set was one of our strongest performances in the competition and we were unlucky not to take it and go into a 4th set.
So it all will come down to our last match, a centre court encounter with Greece prior to the Bronze medal match and the finals.
Saturday
In another nail biting encounter with the Greek team. GB had to pull out all the stops and recover from a 2 set down lead by a more aggressive Greek team seeking revenge for their 3-2 set defeat earlier in the week.
With a good crowd in the stadium for this early match, they were not disappointed as they watched and were entertained for over 2 hours with a match that once again had more twists and turns than a fairground waltzer. Before finally finishing with a 3-2 victory once again to Great Britain.
The first set saw the Greeks slowly edge ahead playing a much more tactical game than previously, and although GB held their own point for point, some good serving from the Greeks saw them take the first set 25-16
In the second set the Greeks now full of confidence began to race ahead with the set, and a series of unforced errors from GB saw Greece edge ahead again. Some excellent block defence from GB pulled the scoreboard closer in the set but in a final push Greece pulled away at the end to a 25-21 victory in the second set.
The 3rd and 4th Sets saw the GB squad pick up their game and adjust to the new tactics being played by Greece. With the same bulldog spirit which has seen them come back in this tournament on a number of occasions when other teams thought they were finished they rallied themselves and hit back hard taking the next two sets 25-19, 27-25.
The final set saw GB and Greece battle for every point with GB edging ahead with some great covering play from their defence and some superb tactical shots from the attack. They came back with aggressive determination making every ball count, their tenaciousness proving too much for Greece who succumbed to a 15-11 defeat in the final set giving GB the Match.
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TEAM |
S-1 |
S-2 |
S-3 |
S-4 |
S-5 |
SET |
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6A GREECE |
25 |
25 |
19 |
25 |
T- 11 |
2 |
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5A GREAT BRITAIN |
16 |
21 |
25 |
27 |
T- 15 |
3 |
Sunday
Squad returned to London at 12:30 pm.
Great win against Greece!!! And, don't be satisfied, beat them again!!!! Joze Banfi
Great news. A terrific morale boost for British Sitting Volleyball. Congratulations to coach Ian Legrand, all the squad and the off court team. May the win be the first of many. We are on the road to 2012! - Denis Le Breuilly
Well done boys, knew you could win. May this be the first of your victories... Tracie and Natalie
To e-mail any messages/questions to the team please write to m.rogers@volleyballengland.org
