Unplayable Boskovic guides Serbia to second world title
Serbia players celebrate with the trophy after winning their FIVB World Championship final match against Brazil at Omnisport Stadium at Apeldoorn, Netherlands on October 15, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The Serbian captain scored a game-high 24 points, all from attack, as the Europeans topped Brazil in attack (50 to 33), block (9 to 5), and aces (4 to 3)
- She emerged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the competition just like in the 2018 edition held in Japan where Serbia won their first world title
- It's a painful loss for Brazil who were looking to claim gold after losing to USA and Italy in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games final and Volleyball Nations League (VNL) final respectively
Tijana Boskovic led from the front as Serbia successfully defended their title following a 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-17) win over Brazil in the final of the FIVB World Championship on Saturday.
The Serbian captain scored a game-high 24 points, all from attack, as the Europeans topped Brazil in attack (50 to 33), block (9 to 5), and aces (4 to 3). The South Americans committed less errors (13 to 22) but Boskovic, operating at 38.10% efficiency in attack proved to be the difference between the two sides at Omnisport stadium in Apeldoorn.
She emerged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the competition just like in the 2018 edition held in Japan where Serbia won their first world title.
Serbia captain Tijana Boskovic celebrates with the flag after winning their FIVB World Championship final match against Brazil at Omnisport Stadium at Apeldoorn, Netherlands on October 15, 2022.
Overall, she contributed 240 points (219 kills, 13 blocks, eight aces) from 12 matches as Serbia finished the competition unbeaten.
“I’m speechless. These girls, this team, this energy…We did it without losing a single match. I’m so happy and so proud to be part of this team. I want to thank everyone that supported us these past three weeks, especially my family,” said Boskovic after the game.
It's a painful loss for Brazil who were looking to claim gold after losing to USA and Italy in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games final and Volleyball Nations League (VNL) final respectively.
Middle blocker Carolina Ana and captain Gabriela Guimaraes and opposite Lorenne Teixeira contributed nine points apiece but it was not enough for Brazil who stunned Italy 3-1 in the semi-finals to reach their fourth World Championship final.
Serbia becomes the sixth side to win the world title back-to-back after former Soviet Union, China, Japan, Russia and Cuba.
Serbia players celebrate a point during their FIVB World Championship final match against Brazil at Omnisport Stadium at Apeldoorn, Netherlands on October 15, 2022.
Earlier at the same venue, Italy thrashed Olympic champions USA in straight sets (25-20, 25-15, 27-25) to claim bronze.
Paola Egonu top scored for Italy with 25 points (20 kills, four blocks, one ace) while Drews Andrea replied for USA with 10 points (nine kills and one ace).
Despite exiting the competition at the first hurdle, Kenya finished 19th out of 24 in the final ranking as Africa's other representative, Cameroon settled bottom of the pile without a point.
Kenya settled fifth in Pool 'A' with three points, to miss out on the top four places that would have assured them a slot in the second round.
