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Fenerbahce HDI Istanbul celebrated victorious at the end of a five-set battle with Lindemans Aalst in the Pool A opening match in Kedzierzyn-Kozle. The Turkish team came back from a set down to claim a 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-25, 15-9) win.

In the first set, Lindemans recovered from the seven-point deficit they had at 8-15 not only to catch up with Fenerbahce in the score, but also to win the set on a five-point margin. Simon Van De Voorde contributed to the Belgian side’s 25-20 success with as many as five kill blocks. The players from Aalst made far too many unforced errors in the second set and the Turkish side took advantage to maintain the lead through the most part of the set and win by 25-22 to level the match.

Despite a great effort from Jakub Rybicki, who scored nine points, including three blocks and one ace, for Lindemans in the third set, Fenerbahce continued to show a lot more precision in their game and that was the key to winning it by 25-21. At 1-1 was the last time the score was level in set four. Stepping up their offensive efforts, the Belgian team regained control on the court and dominated throughout for an emphatic 25-17 win, shaped up with a hammer spike by Matej Smidl for the last point.

The tie-breaker was a tough battle through 10-9 Fenerbahce’s way. Two Canadians stole the show in the epilogue. With Nicholas Hoag behind the serving line and Graham Vigrass master in the middle of the net, the Turkish powerhouse made a five-point sprint down the final stretch as Cuban Salvador Hidalgo hit the last point for the 15-9 victory.

Lindemans’s Jakub Rybicki and Fenerbahce’s Salvador Hidalgo were the best scorers of the match on 24 and 23 points, respectively.