Tchalou wins at the end of an epic match

Charleroi 2 – Tchalou 3

(22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 26-24, 13-15)

The first derby of the season took place in a packed Ballens hall. With the lead of the championship at stake. At the start of the set, the audience immediately understands that the exchanges will be tight. In fact, the teams will never be separated by more than two units before money time! The Carolos and the Thulisiennes surrender blow for blow. We are witnessing a real boxing fight! At 20-19, Ugo Blairon takes the first timeout. The meeting is very intense. In fact, at 20-21, it was Dimitri Piraux’s turn to take his first timeout. At 21-23, Milica Tosic attacks directly out of bounds. The gap will not be filled by the Dauphines and the set ends with a score of 22-25. The second set will not look like the first set. Tchalou leads 1-5 before being “caught” at 10-11. However, the Moncelloises will never go ahead. Ugo Blairon’s girls even went so far as to lead 13-21 before Charleroi experienced a small upturn. However, the hole is made and Dimitri Piraux rotates his bench by bringing in Oriane Moulin, Cécila Malm and Camille Hannaert in particular. At 16-22, Ugo Blairon re-mobilizes his girls with a timeout. Anlène Van Der Meer and Suzana Sepelova are well in place and Tchalou’s defense is everywhere. The scorer therefore indicates 19-25 at the end of this round. The start of the third set resembled the first set before Charleroi pulled away at 19-13. The Carolo block becomes an impassable wall and clearly makes the difference in this round. Note that Tchalou’s opponent remained on the ground and then came out for Stien Goris. The locals confirm and sign a 25-17. More fear than harm for Tchalou’s “two” who re-enters the fourth set… which will not be the last by the way. After a long battle between the two teams, Tchalou offered himself a match point at 23-24 but Charleroi did not give up and won this penultimate round. This derby definitely keeps all its promises. And Tchalou won in the tie-break with a score of 13-15 on a red card for a second delay of play. The frustration was enormous for Charleroi supporters. However, the referees scrupulously applied the rules.