In focus: Nimir Abdel-Aziz

Nimir Abdel-Aziz is undoubtedly the biggest star on this season’s Halkbank Ankara roster, probably also the biggest star to compete in Pool B of the upcoming fourth round in the men’s CEV Champions League Volley 2023. The 30-year-old Dutch opposite is among the best servers and the best spikers in the world, hence arguably one of the best players in the world too.

After spending several seasons playing for some of the top clubs in Italy, Nimir changed the country in a surprizing move to the club from the Turkish capital, set to return to the Champions League after a two-year absence.

“I am very happy to join the great Halkbank team,” said Nimir, quoted by the club website halkbankspor.org.tr. “I know that it is a team that has a deep-rooted history in Turkish volleyball and always plays to win trophies. So I am eager to get the results we want this year. I was in Turkiye before and had a great time.”

Young Nimir started playing volleyball at Haaften Kwiek in the Dutch city he and his family lived in after returning from Namibia where he spent his early years. At the age of 12, he joined Sliedrecht Sport for four years and then spent the rest of his youth years at AMVJ-Martinus Amstelveen. He was also called to the youth and junior national teams of the Netherlands.

2009-2010 was Nimir’s first season in professional volleyball. With the Draisma Dynamo Apeldoorn jersey, he made his European Cups debut (in the CEV Cup) and picked up a golden treble domestically, earning numerous individual honors in the Netherlands.

Competing in the role of a playmaker at the time, Nimir Abdel-Aziz started playing for the Dutch senior national team in 2011. The following year, they claimed CEV European League gold and he snatched two individual awards, for Best Server and for Best Setter.

At the time, Nimir was already playing in the Italian league, where he transferred at the age of 19 after only two seasons in the Dutch championship. Changing clubs pretty much every season, he went through Sisley Belluno and Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo in Italy, Ziraat Bankasi Ankara in Turkey, ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle in Poland, and Stade Poitevin Poitiers in France. During that period, the Dutch setter claimed a 2013 Champions League silver with Bre Banca Lannutti and a 2015 CEV Cup bronze with ZAKSA.

Nimir made the big change from setter to opposite during his two seasons in France, taking on the new role at both club and national team. It was a move that had a great positive impact on his further athletic career.

In 2017, the 201-cm-tall opposite returned to Italy where he played over the next five seasons. During the first of three seasons with the Allianz Milan jersey, Nimir was the best server of the league. After the second, he led the Dutch national team to a European League bronze as the best server and the best scorer of the competition. That year, the Dutchman also became the best server of EuroVolley 2019.

As a player of Trentino Itas Trento, Nimir reached his second Champions League final in 2021, but had to settle for silver again. He was the best server and the best scorer of that season. In a memorable moment of the pool stage, he went back to his setter role for a three-day event as Trentino’s both regular playmakers were out. Nimir stole the show not only with the excellent organization of the offence, but also with his brilliant serving, contributing as many as 13 aces towards the squad’s three wins. In the tightest match against Russia’s Lokomotiv Novosibirsk, Nimir was instrumental to a phenomenal comeback from two sets down. In the tie-breaker alone, he fired 11 consecutive serves, acing three times in the process that led all the way to a 15-2 victory.

In the summer of 2021, Nimir continued his impressive individual performances with the national team. He was the best scorer and the best spiker of EuroVolley 2021, as well as the best scorer, the best spiker and the best server of the VNL Preliminary Round. He repeated the feat this summer, in VNL 2022.

During his period in Italy, Nimir claimed numerous individual achievements in domestic competitions. Last season, as a player of Perkinelmer Leo Shoes Modena, he also became the best server of the 2022 CEV Cup. In the second half of May, he won Asian Club Championship gold as a player of Iran’s Paykan Tehran.

Returning to Turkiye to play for Halkbank, Nimir has already shown his luster in the domestic league. While the team leads the current standings unbeaten in six matches, the Dutch striker leads the best scorers’ and best spikers’ charts with a total of 131 points, an average of 6.55 points per set and a 64% success rate in attack.

Watch the Champions League live on EuroVolleyTV.