The White-Reds paid back the Iranian team for the defeat in the decisive stage of the League of Nations. True, Byalo-Chervoni was twice the leader in sets, but the representatives of Iran each time managed to catch up. The outcome of the meeting, as in the previous match in Gdansk, was decided by a tie-break.
On Thursday, July 21, the Polish national team began their fight in the playoffs of the Nations League 2022. In the quarterfinal match against Iran, Byalo-Chervoni had a chance for revenge for their group stage defeat. match in Gdansk. Then our volleyball players lost to the Iranians 2:3.
Quarter-final of the League of Nations. Confident victory for the Poles in the first set
The match started at 21:00. The Iranians scored the first point, and Bartosz Kurek was stopped by a double block. Fortunately, another move by our striker was successful, and we scored an equalizing score. The national teams went head-to-head to a 6-6 score when the Poles scored three points in a row and the Iranian coach took one of two timeouts. Until the first technical break, Byalo-Chervoni did not lose leadership. The end of the first set was a concert performed by the Polish national team, especially Aleksander Slivka and Jakub Kochanowski, almost flawless in attack, who showed two aces on the pitch. The work was completed by Kamil Semenyuk, who finished the game with a strong attack from the second line. Result 25:21 in favor of Byalo-Chervonykh.
League of Nations-2022. Iran caught up
The second set began with the Poles scoring points. At some point it was already 4:1 in favor of the Poles and the opposing coach asked for a break. This had the right effect, because the Iranians scored two points in a row and approached our volleyball players. After the exchange of points, Poland’s rivals took the wind into their own hands and first drew 10:10, and then took the lead by one point. With the score at 13:13, a controversial situation arose when the representative of Iran was sure that the ball had rubbed the fingers of one of the white-reds. The challenge showed that Esfandiar did not find the triple block. Our volleyball players scored next after Amin’s mistake, Kochanowski’s block and Slivka’s attack. Thanks to this, our team took the lead 16:13.
Kurek and the company were not happy with this result for a long time, because after a moment the Iranians took the lead again, this time the score was 18:19. With the score at 21:21, Nikola Grbic made a double substitution, and Kaczmarek and Lomac appeared on the field. Despite many inaccuracies, we were lucky and equalized the score at 23:23. The Iranians had the first set after the spoiled game of Kachmarek. Luckily, Bartosz Kurek equalized but after another bad serve, this time from Slivka, Ebadipour ended the game and ended the game with a serve ace.
Third set. Awakening of whites and reds
In the third set, Bartosz Kurek woke up, who started with a serve, and later completed a difficult ball with an attack from the second line. With the score 5:2 in favor of Byalo-Chervony, our volleyball players began to make simple mistakes, thanks to which the Iranians equalized the score without any problems, and later they took the lead by one point. The fate of this party unfolded in the end. The Poles took the lead with a six-point score 20:14 and did not concede to the end. Despite defending the first set, the Iranians messed up their serve and eventually lost that game 25:18.
Tie-break in the quarter-finals of the League of Nations
This time, the Iranians immediately took the lead by three points. In response, Bartosz Kurek dropped the ball over the block, and we earned the first point. Nikola Grbic with a four-point lead asked for a break, but the Iranians continued to play on note. In the middle of the game, Lomac, Kaczmarek and Fornal told the court that the game needed to be changed. Unfortunately, this did not happen and the fourth set was won by the Iranian team, which led to a tie-break. The Poles were top players who had a phenomenal start and were ahead of their rivals in all elements of the game. Byalo-Chervoni eventually won 15:7, and the whole game 3:2.
Semi-finals of the League of Nations. Collision with Team USA
In the semi-finals, the Poles will face the United States, which on Wednesday, July 20, defeated Brazil in the quarter-finals of the League of Nations. The match will take place on Saturday, July 23 at 18:00. The final of the tournament will take place on Sunday, July 24 at 21:00. On the same day, a match for third place is scheduled, which will begin three hours before the fight for gold.
Source: Wprost
