Three of the remaining four teams left in the GM Challenge Cup hail from the Azerbaijani Superleague. One final spot is guaranteed to be filled by an Azerbaijani team, as Lokomotiv will take on Igtisadchi.
Azerrail vs. Uralochka is the tie that will decide if an all-Azerbaijani final is possible.
In the second leg quarterfinal game, Azerrail defeated Finnish LP Viesti 3:0 (25:20, 25:20, 25:16) to advance to the next round.
The Finnish side had to play without its main offensive threat, Belgian Virginie De Carne, who missed the match due to family reasons. Nevertheless, the visitors put up a fight against strong Azerrail, but faded at the end.
Meanwhile, in Czech Republic, Igtisadchi dug itself into a hole early on, as the host team Kralovo Pole took the first two sets, 25:23, 25:19. Igtisadchi rallied to take the next two, 25:14, 25:22 and forced a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth set, Igtisadchi jumped to an early 8:4 lead on a kill by Ivana Milos and extended the lead to five, 10:5, on a kill from Riikka Lehtonen. Kralovo Pole responded with three back-to-back points to cut the deficit to 8:10, forcing Igtisadchi head coach Jan de Brandt call a timeout. Out of the break, a clever tip over from Kathleen Weiss and two kills from Tayyiba Haneef-Park gave Igtisadchi a 13:10 lead. A service ace from Milos put Baku team within one of a victory, 14:10 and an attack error from the host team gave Igtisadchi the ticket to the semifinal, 15:10.
Rabita Baku- it is your time now!!! INSHALLAH!!!
