Slovakia and Poland successfully closed out the 3rd Round Tournament – Pool K beating Slovenia (3-2) and France (3-0) respectively this afternoon in Gdynia. The results had not too much weight as the tickets at stake for next year’s final round of the World Championship were already awarded after two days of competition. Now all four teams will start their final preparations for the upcoming European Championships in Turkey, which is set to start next September 3, 2009.
After two losses, Slovenia's coach Gregor Hribar made some changes in the line-up and his guys played really good in the first set. The Slovenians had a slim advantage until the score stayed at 18-16. Then Slovakia leveled and took over the lead (20-19). The team of Italian-born coach Emanuele Zanini silvered their first set point and won the partial 25-23. In the second set Slovakia took the lead just before the first technical time out (8-7). During the whole partial the gap stood at about two, three points, but the Slovenians fought hard for every ball. They managed to catch up with their rivals at 22-22 and playing with higher energy eventually took the set 25-23. The third set had a very similar scenario, but this time Slovakia didn't let the Slovenians to pull the victory out of their hands. The Slovaks showed some good blocking, made fewer mistakes in reception and in attack, what gave them the final 25-21. Slovenia responded with the same result in the fourth set and the fans in the “Gdynia” Hall saw the first tie-break of the tournament. Slovakia started the decisive partial by winning five points in a row and never looked back. The guys from Bratislava took the set 15-12 and the whole match 3-2.
“The motivation was the main problem today – said Zanini. - Nobody likes to play when you are already out of contention. The whole competition was good for us from some points of view, especially as test of our endurance before the upcoming European Championships. Now I know we're well prepared physically, but we still have to improve in many other aspects”.
Slovenia's captain Tine Urnaut looked exhausted at the press conference after the game. “It was a long match and as it was in our previous games in this tournament, we made definitely too many mistakes. We were down twice, but we didn't give up and leveled the score. We had a terrible start in the decisive set and we weren't able to catch up with the Slovaks”.
Both teams will meet again very soon. Slovenia and Slovakia have been drawn in the same pool of the European Championships in Turkey.
Poland and France will also play in the same group at the European Champs and will start their Turkish campaign fighting against each other. With tickets to Italy in the pockets, both coaches decided to use some reserve names in their line-ups. Fully crowded stands served as an additional player for Poland that easily won the opening set 25-17. The second set was much more even, at least in the beginning. Poland led by only one point (8-7) at the first technical time out. The home team doubled the gap just before the second break (16-14) and was clearly running. Some powerful serves of Bartosz Kurek let Poland take a five-point lead and eventually the hosts took the set 25-19. In the third and final period the Poles jumped out to a flying start and led 8-4 at the first technical time out. They increased the lead thanks to great blocking and effective counter attacks. None of the 5000 spectators had any doubts about who was going to win the game. They would surely have watched their pupils in action even for a little bit longer, but the Polish players had completely different plans. The home team finished the job winning quickly the set at 25-21.
“Today's match was rather an exhibition game. Both teams had qualified earlier so the stake wasn't high – Polish captain Pawel Zagumny said. - Nevertheless, I hope the fans aren't disappointed with what they saw”.
Both coaches spoke about the substitutes. While Daniel Castellani was happy with the performance of his back-up players, especially with Pawel Woicki, who was named MVP of the game, Philippe Blain's considerations were a little bit different. “This is not the exact level of my team. I hope this loss won't have any influence on my players before the European Championships. We play there the first game against Poland and I believe that match won't be similar to this one. I wanted to see some reserve players in action and I can say that not everyone played the way I expected them to do”.
After two losses, Slovenia's coach Gregor Hribar made some changes in the line-up and his guys played really good in the first set. The Slovenians had a slim advantage until the score stayed at 18-16. Then Slovakia leveled and took over the lead (20-19). The team of Italian-born coach Emanuele Zanini silvered their first set point and won the partial 25-23. In the second set Slovakia took the lead just before the first technical time out (8-7). During the whole partial the gap stood at about two, three points, but the Slovenians fought hard for every ball. They managed to catch up with their rivals at 22-22 and playing with higher energy eventually took the set 25-23. The third set had a very similar scenario, but this time Slovakia didn't let the Slovenians to pull the victory out of their hands. The Slovaks showed some good blocking, made fewer mistakes in reception and in attack, what gave them the final 25-21. Slovenia responded with the same result in the fourth set and the fans in the “Gdynia” Hall saw the first tie-break of the tournament. Slovakia started the decisive partial by winning five points in a row and never looked back. The guys from Bratislava took the set 15-12 and the whole match 3-2.
“The motivation was the main problem today – said Zanini. - Nobody likes to play when you are already out of contention. The whole competition was good for us from some points of view, especially as test of our endurance before the upcoming European Championships. Now I know we're well prepared physically, but we still have to improve in many other aspects”.
Slovenia's captain Tine Urnaut looked exhausted at the press conference after the game. “It was a long match and as it was in our previous games in this tournament, we made definitely too many mistakes. We were down twice, but we didn't give up and leveled the score. We had a terrible start in the decisive set and we weren't able to catch up with the Slovaks”.
Both teams will meet again very soon. Slovenia and Slovakia have been drawn in the same pool of the European Championships in Turkey.
Poland and France will also play in the same group at the European Champs and will start their Turkish campaign fighting against each other. With tickets to Italy in the pockets, both coaches decided to use some reserve names in their line-ups. Fully crowded stands served as an additional player for Poland that easily won the opening set 25-17. The second set was much more even, at least in the beginning. Poland led by only one point (8-7) at the first technical time out. The home team doubled the gap just before the second break (16-14) and was clearly running. Some powerful serves of Bartosz Kurek let Poland take a five-point lead and eventually the hosts took the set 25-19. In the third and final period the Poles jumped out to a flying start and led 8-4 at the first technical time out. They increased the lead thanks to great blocking and effective counter attacks. None of the 5000 spectators had any doubts about who was going to win the game. They would surely have watched their pupils in action even for a little bit longer, but the Polish players had completely different plans. The home team finished the job winning quickly the set at 25-21.
“Today's match was rather an exhibition game. Both teams had qualified earlier so the stake wasn't high – Polish captain Pawel Zagumny said. - Nevertheless, I hope the fans aren't disappointed with what they saw”.
Both coaches spoke about the substitutes. While Daniel Castellani was happy with the performance of his back-up players, especially with Pawel Woicki, who was named MVP of the game, Philippe Blain's considerations were a little bit different. “This is not the exact level of my team. I hope this loss won't have any influence on my players before the European Championships. We play there the first game against Poland and I believe that match won't be similar to this one. I wanted to see some reserve players in action and I can say that not everyone played the way I expected them to do”.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου