Italy snatch the men’s silver in Türkiye
- Iran decorate fantastic FIVB Snow Volleyball World Tour debut with men’s gold and bronze in Erzurum Palandoken
- Italy celebrate historic silver
- Three Turkish teams achieve a home sweep of the women’s podium
The first FIVB Snow Volleyball World Tour event in almost six years is over and nations that have never been on the World Tour podiums before collected all the medals. The team of Iran 4 triumphed in the men’s tournament in the winter sports resort of Erzurum Palandoken in northeastern Türkiye, while Italy and Iran 2 picked up the silver and the bronze, respectively. Home teams swept the entire women’s podium, with Türkiye 1, Türkiye 2 and Türkiye 3, in that order, lining up with gold, silver and bronze.
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Iran had a memorable World Tour debut. The Asian country had four teams taking to the snow courts in the men’s tournament. Three of them made it to the quarterfinals and two of them earned medals. Iran 4, featuring Arshia Ahmadi, Fazel Valipour Gorji, Mahdi Alizadeh Koyakhi and Seyed Ali Talebzadeh, lost to Italy in a tight Pool B three-setter, but finished pool runners-up, advancing to the elimination rounds. They never lost a set again. In the quarterfinals, Iran 4 beat Türkiye 2. Then they produced a 2-0 (20-18, 15-11) semifinal upset of top-seeded France 1, before getting back at Italy in Friday’s gold medal showdown with a 2-0 (15-6, 15-10) sweep.
Italy, with 46-year-old Massimo Di Risio on the squad, the tournament’s only male player with previous World Tour experience from 2019, reached the final undefeated in four matches played. Their winning streak was crowned with a 2-0 (15-8, 15-11) semifinal victory over Iran 2, which set them up against Iran 4 in the gold medal battle. The Erzurum Palandoken silver is Italy’s best ever result on the World Tour. Their previous high also had Di Risio involved and it was a fifth-place finish at home at Kronplatz 2019.
Iran 2 bounced back in the third-place match with a narrow 2-0 (24-22, 16-14) upset of France 1 to complete the podium with bronze.
The fifth place was jointly occupied by Iran 3, Türkiye 2, Türkiye 5 and Ukraine, while France 2, Iran 1, Türkiye 1 and Türkiye 3 shared the ninth place in the final standings.
The FIVB Snow Volleyball World Tour men’s podium at Erzurum Palandoken 2025
Türkiye took full advantage of hosting the event in the women’s tournament, sweeping all three of the medals. The country’s previous best result on the Tour was a fourth place at Bariloche 2019. Two of the players, who achieved that result in Argentina – Europe’s multiple Queens of the Snow Merve Celebi and Simge Yalcin – were back in action in Erzurum Palandoken as members of the Türkiye 1 team, along with Nursel Yaren Sencel & Zeynep Dila Sahin. They cruised through the tournament undefeated in six matches played and triumphed on top of the podium.
After winning the round-robin stage of the tournament, Türkiye 1 went on to claim a 2-0 (15-11, 15-5) semifinal win over Türkiye 3 and a 2-1 (13-15, 15-12, 15-12) comeback victory over Türkiye 2 in the final. Celebi and Yalcin were the only female players at the event that had appeared on the World Tour before.
In the other seminal, Türkiye 2 mastered a 2-0 (15-11, 15-5) win over Türkiye 4. In the bronze medal match, Türkiye 3 came back from a set down to beat Türkiye 4 by a nail-biting 2-1 (7-15, 17-15, 15-13), while the national team of Georgia had to settle for the fifth place in the final standings.
The FIVB Snow Volleyball World Tour women’s podium at Erzurum Palandoken 2025
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