Türkiye qualify for 2023 CEV Volleyball European Golden League Final

Türkiye beat Czech Republic 3-2 in the Final Four to reach the final in Volleyball European Golden League 2023, a competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV).

The Crescent Stars beat the Czech Republic on Saturday in five sets -- 22-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-23 and 15-12 -- in Zadar, Croatia to grab the final ticket.

Burutay Subasi led Türkiye with 17 points. Czech Republic's Marek Sotola scored 23 points in a losing effort.

The Crescent Stars will take on Ukraine, which beat Croatia 3-1 in the other Final Four clash.

The Czech Republic will play the third-place match on Sunday against Croatia.

Victorious in the past

In 2021, Türkiye’s national men's volleyball team have beaten Ukraine to become the winner of the CEV Volleyball European Golden League in Belgium's Kortrijk then. They sealed the title in the tournament back-to-back.

The national team also won the Golden League in 2019, but the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Adis Lagumdzija was the top scorer of the match with 23 points, and Yigit Gulmezoglu accompanied Adis with 16 points of his own. Efe Mandiraci had the winning point for Türkiye with a spike, his only point in the match.

Sweden won the CEV Volleyball European Golden League 2022. They defeated Portugal in the final, 3-1. This was Sweden's second title in the competition, having also won in 2017.

The competition was created in 2004 as a replacement for the CEV European League. The first edition of the competition was held in 2004, with Türkiye winning the title in both the men's and women's competitions.