Prosecco Doc-Vakifbank The challenge after the Guinness will continue to the World Cup

Volleyball Serie A1F. Tomorrow Conegliano can reach 73 victories in a row Record that the Turkish club sees at risk. There is also the 3-in-a-row Champions League

the record

Still them, always them. Vakifbank and Imoco Volley Conegliano, the two excellences of European women’s volleyball in the last decade, compete again, albeit at a distance. Having met four times on the pitch, the two clubs are fighting this time not for a trophy, but for the world record in consecutive victories, held by the Istanbul team for almost eight years. Tomorrow the Panthers can equal the record of 73 successes in a row in all national and international competitions and then try to write their name in the Guinness book, adding at least one more victory.

In the Vakif series, between 19 October 2012 and 18 January 2014, there are 42 successes in the Sultanlar Ligi, 6 in the Turkish Cup, 1 in the Super Cup, 20 in the Champions League and 4 in the Club World Cup, with victory in all and five trophies; Conegliano’s streak, which began on 15 December 2019, is made up of 3 successes in the Super Cup, 6 in the Italian Cup, 16 in the Champions League and 47 in the league. A win tomorrow afternoon in Cuneo would lead to parity, with the advantage for the Panthers to be able to do even better in subsequent matches.

Moreover, it would not be the first time that Conegliano grabs the Vakif in a winning sequence: in 2012/13 the giallonere were the first to win the Champions League without losing even one of the 12 games played. The feat was repeated last year by the panthers who raised the trophy in Verona by beating the team coached by Guidetti. In sight there is also the unbeaten record in the Champions League: Vakif reached 21 games without defeat during those two golden seasons, Conegliano is currently at 18 and with concrete possibilities to do better.

To put them in line, the trophies won by the two clubs from 2012 to today amounted to 34, 20 for the giallonere and 14 for the yellow and blue, who are now seeking international confirmation: the goal is to defend the European and world title also from assaults. of the Vakifbank. In the initial rounds there will be no rematches, but it is when it counts that many hope to see the challenge again: removed the 2017 Champions League final at Palaverde (finished with a clear 0-3), the other three direct clashes, always arriving at tiebreak, have entered the collective memory for emotions, technical and competitive level. The European semi-final in Bucharest in 2018, the world championship in 2019 and the final last May for the continental title are three shining examples of modern volleyball. The story is not over and from tomorrow, with full rights, the panthers can also join: the finish line is one step away and everyone, on the Cuneo wheel, is aiming for 73. –

MIRCO CAVALLIN