By Bozhan Memis
ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish national teams and prominent club teams have earned recognition through their impressive accomplishments in major European and global competitions as Türkiye celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Republic.
The Turkish National Women's Volleyball Team made Türkiye proud by reaching the championship in the FIVB Nations League, CEV European Championship and 2024 Paris Olympics Qualifiers.
In July, the “Sultans of the Net" won their maiden gold medal in the 2023 FIVB Nations League by beating China 3-1 in the final and rose to first place in the world rankings for the first time.
Also this year, they bagged the CEV European Championship trophy for the first time by defeating Serbia 3-2 in the final.
Türkiye became champions by winning all seven matches and got their quota spots for the 2024 Paris Olympics in Japan.
Eczacibasi Dynavit and VakifBank also faced each other in two grand finals.
The two teams met in the 2023 CEV Champions League Super Final on May 20 in Turin, Italy with VakifBank winning the cup.
VakifBank came out on top in an all-Turkish final to win the 2023 CEV Women’s Champions League in May.
They beat Eczacibasi Dynavit 3-1 to secure their sixth title.
Turkish volleyball teams have now collected the title eight times: VakifBank in 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023, Fenerbahce in 2012 and Eczacibasi in 2015.
In December, Istanbul's Eczacibasi Dynavit won the 2023 Women's Volleyball Club World Championship.
In the all-Turkish final in Hangzhou, China, Eczacibasi Dynavit beat VakifBank 3-2 with sets of 19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25 and 15-9 to win the world title for the third time in history.
They previously won it in 2015 and 2016.
- Turkish National Men's Volleyball Team makes history
The Turkish National Men's Volleyball Team became the 2023 CEV Men's Volleyball European Golden League champions after beating Ukraine 3-2 in June.
The Crescent Stars clinched the trophy for the third time in their history and became the most successful team in the competition with three titles, which have been held since 2004.
Also, in the final of the FIVB Men’s Challenger Cup, Türkiye defeated Qatar 3-2 in Doha, Qatar to secure their place in the 2024 Volleyball Nations League.