VERONA
Let’s start from the end and from that double dejà-vu. After 2 hours and 25 minutes of a very tight and exciting final, not always technically perfect, there is a team ahead of the tiebreak, on the threshold of victory. In Bucharest in 2018 and in Shaoxing in 2019, whoever had to come back won.
Not this time. Next 14-10, like Vakif at the Club World Cup, Conegliano gets canceled first one (Gabi’s attack), then two (Wolosz invades), then also the third matchpoint: Egonu attacks outside, but Santarelli calls a video check for touch of the wall. 40 interminable seconds pass, time literally suspended.
The touch is imperceptible, but it is there, Isabelle Haak’s right hand does. It is here that, like a cork of Prosecco that has remained in the cellar for too long, the joy of the panthers and the yellow-blue universe explodes.
The first deserved Champions of Conegliano arrives by deploying the best possible sextet: Folie and De Kruijf in the center, Wolosz in the direction, Egonu opposite, De Gennaro free, Hill and Sylla in the band, But the latter is immediately the target of the opponent’s service, and does not respond to the best. Imoco game contracted and limping, with too many gratuitous mistakes: the Vakif reaches the maximum advantage (9-14), not free from imperfections. But the panthers don’t take advantage. The recovery (18-19) is thanks to the power plants and a good wall job, alas discontinuous. Gabi is a nightmare, Haak shoots very strong and the Imoco serve is weak: not only does he not affect, but also leaves too many points on the road.
The film does not change in the second set: Gunes and Rasic who cut the defense of Conegliano in two and sign the 9-13. Adams enters for Sylla, immediate and solid comeback. Egonu and Haak’s mistakes make 14 even: Conegliano regains confidence, even insisting with the serve on the free Aykac, and puts his head ahead for the first time (16-15); Ognjenovic goes haywire three times with his teammates. The advantage corroborates the panthers, more patient and concentrated in repelling Vakif’s comeback. Behind Caravello begins his unforgettable final. Egonu’s first ace leads to a tie: 1-1.
Wolosz goes on his own twice at the beginning of the third set, even saving a ball with his foot. Mistakes raise the Turks to 6-11: only in small steps, between breaks and ball changers, Conegliano undermines the safety of the Vakif and erodes the disadvantage drop by drop. Egonu becomes infallible, Adams unsurpassed in reception and poisonous in attack; from 15-15, exciting point to point, with a monstrous first half by Folie and a wall by Hill, to which Haak and Rasic respond (21-23); Egonu cancels the first set point, but misses the second shot. 2-1
Back to the wall, the panthers find themselves thanks to the power plants (11-8); confidence grows, but Vafik recovers from 17-13 to 22-22. In the end the best cynicism of Imoco returns: first half by De Kruijf, attack by Hill, mistake by Haak.
It’s tiebreak. But Folie and Egonu are marked, Vakif flies 0-4. It is up to Caravello to arrange service and defense, while Egonu begins to hammer: 6 torpedoes at full strength, interspersed with the fifth wall of De Kruijf. Change field to 8-6. The Vakif does not give up and draws at 10, but a triptych by Egonu gives Conegliano breath, and a millimeter lob by Adams after a defensive miracle by “Moki” De Gennaro is worth the 4 match points. And the third is what Europe is worth. –
MIRCO CAVALLIN