Shortly after 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday, August 15th, the women’s national team “flew” to Düsseldorf, where the games in Group 3 of the European Championship will begin on Thursday (August 17th).

Waking up in the morning after yesterday’s indoor marathon in Rentis wasn’t the best, but Greek athlete Yunus Otsal and his colleagues smiled anyway.

At the airport waiting for departure was celebrated by revelers Maria-Eleni Artakianou, Maria Tsitsigianni, Panagiota

And when Aegean’s Airbus was in the air, most of the members of the mission were left in the arms of Morpheus, as another busy day had begun, but at the same time the Eurovolley calendar said: “One more day for the first serve.” “.

But not for long, because the impatience that prevails among all the girls for the big European volleyball festival is huge and so their eyes opened after a while. Some were watching their favorite movie on their phones, others were playing games and Kiki Terzoglou was reading and taking notes non-stop throughout the trip. No, the notes were not about the Premiership game (Thursday 17/8, 21:00 ERT, Germany-Greece) but about…. Developmental Psychopathology based on the exam she is taking in September (as a student at the Faculty of Special Education). Who knows, maybe the psychopathology will come in handy during the tournament.

After 2 hours and 40 minutes, the plane landed in Dusseldorf, the capital of the Rhineland, where more than 10,000 of our compatriots live, and the group was at the hotel in about an hour. But not for long, because the first training session on German soil is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. local time.

And this will be the team’s first meeting with Castello, the stadium where all Group C matches will be played.

Argyris Antifakos: “We did a good job”

One of the… vigilant members of the mission was Yunus Otsal’s partner Argyris Antifakos, who admitted: “I’m waiting for the European Championship.” I’ve helped prepare for the last two years, this year I’m officially on the team and I’m looking forward to it me to the games.”

About the preparation, the young technician emphasized: “Everything went smoothly and I think it went quite well.” I think he did a very good job and we hope he will be on the field. There is certainly impatience and fear, but at normal levels. It doesn’t work without stress (laughs)…”

Asimina Nikologianni: “We are a great company…”

As for Argyris Antifakos, this is Asimina Nikologianni’s first experience at a European Championship.

“I’m really excited about this first participation in the final stages of a European Championship and I’m looking forward to having that experience.” “I think we’re ready to go in and give 100%,” said Revoil, the young winger of AO Markopoulos , who put aside tiredness while counting down the first serve.

“When you get to the home stretch of the European Championship, you forget everything and everything becomes details.” It’s been a long summer and overall a great experience, but everything has been very nice and I’m happy to be part of this team.

“We’ve gotten very close to the girls and especially now that we’ve all gotten to know each other well, we’re a great group.”

The national team’s squad of 14 consists of:

• passers-by: Lamprini Konstantinidou, Panagiota Xanthopoulou
• Diagonal: Martha Anthoulis, Maria Tsitsigianni
• extremes: Olga Strandzali, Anna Spanou, Asimina Nikologianni, and Elena Baka
• Central: Gina Lambrousi, Anna Kalandatze, Aristea Todai, and Kiki Terzoglou
• Libero: Marialena Artakianou, Xenia Kakouratou

The women’s Eurovolley will take place from August 15, 2023 to September 3, 2023 with the host countries Belgium, Germany, Italy and Estonia.

The groups of the European

• 1st group (Belgium, Ghent): Belgium, Slovenia, Serbia, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary
• 2nd group (Italy, Verona, Monza and Turin): Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia, Switzerland
• 3rd group (Germany, Dusseldorf): Germany, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Czech Republic, Sweden, Hellas.
• 4th group (Estonia, Tallinn): Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, France, Slovakia, Spain.

The national team program

Thursday 17 August

• 21:00 (ERT-3), Greece-Germany

Friday 18 August

• 18:00, Türkiye-Sweden
• 21:00, Azerbaijan-Czech Republic

Saturday August 19th

• 18:00 (ERT-3), Sweden-Greece
• 21:00, Azerbaijan-Germany

Sunday 20 August

• 18:00 (ERT-3), Greece-Czech Republic
• 21:00, Türkiye-Azerbaijan

Monday 21 August

• 18:00, Czech Republic-Türkiye
• 21:00, Germany-Sweden

Tuesday, August 22nd

• 18:00 (ERT-3), Azerbaijan-Greece
• 21:00, Germany-Czech Republic

Wednesday 23 August

• 18:00 (ERT-3), Greece-Türkiye
• 21:00, Sweden-Azerbaijan

Thursday, August 24th

• 18:00, Czech Republic-Sweden
• 21:00, Türkiye-Germany

*The first 4 teams in the standings qualify for the next phase