Bosnia Men and Ukraine Women Win Sitting Volleyball Euros

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s men’s team and Ukraine’s women’s team came away with the titles at last week’s Sitting Volleyball European Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

On the men’s side, Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Russia in the gold-medal match on Saturday (15 October) in four sets (22-25, 25-23, 25-10, 25-23).

Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had already qualified for the London 2012 Paralympic Games with its second-place finish at last year’s World Championships, won all of its matches in Rotterdam and did not drop a single set until it reached the semi-finals against Ukraine.

In the bronze-medal game, Germany defeated Ukraine in five sets (24-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 15-12). The Netherlands took fifth, and was followed by Poland, Serbia, Croatia, Great Britain, Latvia and Azerbaijan, respectively.

Although Great Britain finished a disappointing ninth, it had already qualified for London 2012 as the host nation.

On the women’s side, Ukraine took down the Netherlands in four sets (25-21, 26-28, 25-15, 25-14) to win the championship. Ukraine had already qualified for London 2012 with a top-three finish at last year’s World Championships, though the Netherlands inked a spot for itself with its runner-up finish in its home country.

Russia grabbed the bronze medal with a win over Slovenia in the women’s third-place game. Germany finished fifth in the standings, and was followed by Finland, Great Britain and Hungary, respectively.

Despite finishing seventh, Great Britain’s women had already qualified for London 2012 as the host nation of the Games.