Azerbaijan has defeated Hungary in their opening game of the 2017 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women in Baku.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev watched the game.

After coming from behind in the opening set, Azerbaijan rallied to a comprehensive 3-0 victory (25-23, 25-14, 25-16) over Hungary to get proceedings underway in Pool A of the 2017 EuroVolley.

President Ilham Aliyev applauded Azerbaijan`s victory.

It is the first time the tournament will be hosted by Azerbaijan and Georgia, with the latter making their bow in the tournament.

Sixteen teams will battle it out to become the Queens of Europe. Among them are defending champions Russia, who have won the last two editions of the event. Apart from Rio 2016 Olympic Games silver medalists Serbia, EuroVolley 2015 runners-up the Netherlands and traditional Volleyball powers such as Italy, Turkey and Germany have also been improving in recent months.

The tournament is made up of 36 matches, with the final set to take place in Baku on 1 October.