1997 Men's European Volleyball Championship

1997 Men's European Volleyball Championship

Tournament details
Host nation	Netherlands
Dates	September 6–14
Teams	11
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Champions	Netherlands (1st title)

The 1997 Men's European Volleyball Championship was the 20th edition of the event, organized by Europe's governing volleyball body, the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball. It was hosted from September 6 to September 14 in two cities in the Netherlands – Den Bosch and Eindhoven –.

Qualification

Further information: 1997 Men's European Volleyball Championship Qualification

The top four placed teams from the 1995 edition of the Men's European Volleyball Championship — Italy, Yugoslavia, Netherlands (also host) and Bulgaria — were automatically qualified for the 1997 edition. The other teams had to qualify in 1996.

Teams

Group A – Den Bosch

• Germany
• Greece
• Italy
• Russia
• Slovakia
• Yugoslavia

Group B – Eindhoven

• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Finland
• France
• Netherlands
• Ukraine

Squads

Further information: 1997 Men's European Volleyball Championship Squads

Preliminary round

Group A

	Team	Points	G	W	L	PW	PL	Ratio	SW	SL	Ratio
1.	Yugoslavia	9	5	4	1	233	154	1.513	12	4	3.000
2.	Italy	9	5	4	1	220	161	1.366	12	4	3.000
3.	Slovakia	8	5	3	2	230	263	0.875	10	10	1.000
4.	Russia	7	5	2	3	248	227	1.093	10	9	1.111
5.	Germany	7	5	2	3	208	259	0.803	7	12	0.583
6.	Greece	5	5	0	5	176	251	0.701	3	15	0.200

• Saturday September 6

Italy	3 – 0	Greece	16-14 15- 4 15-03
Slovakia	3 – 1	Germany	13-15 15-12 15-09 15-10
Russia	3 – 0	Yugoslavia	16-14 15-11 15-13

• Sunday September 7

Germany	3 – 1	Greece	17-15 15-09 07-15 15-08
Slovakia	3 – 2	Russia	06-15 15-10 16-14 10-15 15-12
Yugoslavia	3 – 0	Italy	15-13 15-09 15-05

• Monday September 8

Germany	3 – 2	Russia	15-09 15-10 06-15 04-15 16-14
Italy	3 – 1	Slovakia	15-13 12-15 15-11 15-05
Yugoslavia	3 – 1	Greece	15-05 14-16 15-06 15-06

• Wednesday September 10

Italy	3 – 0	Germany	15-10 15-09 15-04
Russia	3 – 0	Greece	15-05 15-09 15-12
Yugoslavia	3 – 0	Slovakia	15-07 15-04 15-08

• Thursday September 11

Italy	3 – 0	Russia	15-06 15-10 15-12
Slovakia	3 – 1	Greece	15-10 15-11 02-15 15-13
Yugoslavia	3 – 0	Germany	15-08 16-14 15-07

Group B

	Team	Points	G	W	L	PW	PL	Ratio	SW	SL	Ratio
1.	Netherlands	10	5	5	0	226	91	2.484	15	0	MAX
2.	France	8	5	3	2	224	219	1.023	10	8	1.250
3.	Ukraine	8	5	3	2	260	251	1.036	11	10	1.100
4.	Czech Republic	7	5	2	3	260	276	0.942	10	12	0.833
5.	Bulgaria	7	5	2	3	219	263	0.833	8	12	0.666
6.	Finland	5	5	0	5	167	256	0.652	3	15	0.200

• Saturday September 6

Netherlands	3 – 0	Finland	15-03 15-07 15-02
Czech Republic	3 – 1	France	16-14 07-15 15-01 15-12
Ukraine	3 – 2	Bulgaria	08-15 15-07 11-15 15-10 15-09

• Sunday September 7

France	3 – 0	Finland	15-05 15-13 15-07
Netherlands	3 – 0	Ukraine	15-06 15-10 15-01
Bulgaria	3 – 2	Czech Republic	05-15 15-10 15-11 10-15 15-11

• Monday September 8

Ukraine	3 – 0	Finland	15-12 15-01 15-09
France	3 – 0	Bulgaria	15-10 17-15 15-02
Netherlands	3 – 0	Czech Republic	15-07 15-02 15-06

• Wednesday September 10

Bulgaria	3 – 1	Finland	15-12 09-15 15-07 15-11
Ukraine	3 – 2	Czech Republic	11-15 15-09 10-15 15-13 15-11
Netherlands	3 – 0	France	16-14 15-06 15-05

• Thursday September 11

Czech Republic	3 – 2	Finland	12-15 15-11 15-11 10-15 15-11
France	3 – 2	Ukraine	15-13 15-08 13-15 03-15 19-17
Netherlands	3 – 0	Bulgaria	15-03 15-09 15-10

Final round

	Semi-finals				Final
	1997-09-13
	France	0
					1997-09-14 – Eindhoven
	Yugoslavia	3
					Netherlands	3
	1997-09-13
					Yugoslavia	1
	Netherlands	3
	Italy	0
					3rd place
					1997-09-14
					Italy	3
					France	1

• Friday September 13 — Semi-finals

Yugoslavia	3 – 0	France	15-06 17-15 15-11
Netherlands	3 – 0	Italy	15-09 15-06 15-13

• Saturday September 14 — Bronze Medal Match

Italy	3 – 1	France	15-02 15-06 10-15 15-08

• Saturday September 14 — Gold Medal Match

Netherlands	3 – 1	Yugoslavia	15-11 10-15 15-10 15-09

---

	5-8th place				5th place
	1997-09-13
	Slovakia	0
					1997-09-14
	Czech Republic	3
					Czech Republic	0
	1997-09-13
					Russia	3
	Russia	3
	Ukraine	0
					7th place
					1997-09-14
					Ukraine	3
					Slovakia	0

• Friday September 13 — Classification Matches

Czech Republic	3 – 0	Slovakia	15-10 15-11 15-11
Russia	3 – 0	Ukraine	15-10 15-04 15-12

• Saturday September 14 — Seventh Place Match

Slovakia	3 – 0	Ukraine	15-03 15-13 15-03

• Saturday September 14 — Fifth Place Match

Russia	3 – 0	Czech Republic	15-10 15-09 15-09

---

Final ranking

Place	Team
	Netherlands
	Yugoslavia
	Italy
4.	France
5.	Russia
6.	Czech Republic
7.	Ukraine
8.	Slovakia
9.	Bulgaria
	Germany
11.	Finland
	Greece

1997 Men's European champions
Netherlands First title

Team Roster

Peter Blangé, Guido Görtzen, Henk-Jan Held, Albert Cristina, Reinder Nummerdor, Richard Schuil, Bas van de Goor, Mike van de Goor, Jochem de Gruijter, Misha Latuhihin, Olof van der Meulen, and Robert van Es. Head coach: Toon Gerbrands.

References

• Official website
• CEV website