Bosnia and Herzegovina book their place in men's sitting volleyball final

"Their emotions meant they lifted off the floor too much, and if you do that, you lose a point."

Beijing silver medalists Bosnia and Herzegovina booked their place in the men's sitting volleyball final to underline their ambition to go one better than 2008.

Their semi-final against Germany started incredibly tightly, with each team basically alternating points to the first technical time-out which Bosnia and Herzegovina took 8–7. From then on the Bosnians slowly began to pull away, with the gap stretching to three points by the second technical time-out and six by the end of the set with a score of 25–19.

The second continued much the same with the Bosnians building up a 10-4 lead against the Germans. The German team took advantage of some of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s unforced errors to narrow the gap, but it was all to no avail as the Bosnians took the set 25–20.

The Bosnian’s big hitter Alexander Schiffler came out strong in the third, pulling off some amazingly powerful spikes without a direct set-up from his team mates, and as a result he became his team’s best scorer with 15 points. The German team couldn’t cope with the Bosnian onslaught and lost the final set 14–25, and the match in straight sets.

Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Mirza Hrustemovic said: “Germany were in it, but they were a bit nervous and their desire to win was maybe a bit too high and it put them off. Their emotions meant they lifted off the floor too much, and if you do that, you lose a point.”

In the second semi-final the reigning champions Iran started slowly allowing the Russians to gain an early lead, but they would not maintain it for long because by the first technical time-out the Iranians lead 8–5. Russia’s consistent errors, mostly lifting, gifted eight points to the opposition, so it was no surprise that Iran took the set 25–15.

Having cut out the majority of the errors the second set became mainly an attritional affair until 15-15, but Russia again let their discipline slide, giving away twice as many points than their opponents, losing the set 18–25.

Although Iran were the clear favourites from the start, Russia’s inconsistency made the match far less equal than it should have been as Iran took nine points from their errors. The set finished 18–25, and the match was Iran’s, meaning the gold medal match will be a repeat of four years ago.

Russia and Germany will move on to the bronze medal match. Both men’s finals will be played on day 10 (8 September).

Other matches settled today were some of the battles for final classification in the men’s and women’s events. In the women’s competition Great Britain took eighth, Japan seventh, Slovenia sixth, and Brazil fifth. Ukraine and the Netherlands will contest bronze, and in a repeat of Beijing’s final, China will take on the USA for the gold on day nine (7 September).

In the men’s competition Egypt moved on to face Brazil in the fifth and sixth playoff on day 10, and China will contend seventh and eighth with Great Britain on day nine.