The third victory of Polish volleyball players at the world championships. Poland

Posted On: October 31, 2022

After three rounds of matches, Polish volleyball players at the world championships are the only group B team with complete victories

photo: Piotr Sumara / PZPS

Remembrance and tribute to Złotek

Exactly 19 years ago – September 28, 2003 – the Polish volleyball team under coach Andrzej Niemczyk won the gold medal at the European Championships. Małgorzata Glinka was voted the best volleyball player in the Old Continent. Two years later, the girls repeated their success, and Dorota Świeniewicz became the top competitor. Polish volleyball players were called “Złotka”.

On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, “Złotka” was honored at the Ergo Arena during the break between sets in the Poland-South Korea World Cup match. There were smiles, memories and tears. Tears of sadness after the death of coach Niemczyk and main competitor Agata Mróz.

Poland should still win

– It’s great that the girls were appreciated. I had the pleasure of playing with some of them – said Magdalena Stysiak, one of the leaders of the current Polish national team after the Poland – South Korea match.

South Korea is the fourth team at the Tokyo Olympics, but now at the World Championships in Poland and the Netherlands it is a completely different team. Weaker. Until the match against Poland, the proteges of Spanish coach Cesar Hernandez have lost 23 games in a row. For the last time, the Koreans won the Olympic quarter-finals with Turkey. Their coach back then was Stefano Lavarini, the current coach of the Polish national team.

The Poles were not as brilliant as the day before with Thailand.

Concert of Polish volleyball players at the world championships. Confident victory with Thailand

The first point of the game after a successful attack was scored by Olivia Różański. Then it was hard: one point ahead, zero, one point lost. He went “forward” from 18:16, when Zuzanna Górecka collected the ball for the first time, then Joanna Wołosz played the ball and Różański finished the action. After six points won in a row, it was 10:16 p.m. At the end of Poland, they blocked very well, winning the game until 17.

The second set was similar. 6:6, 12:9, 2:9, 5:11, 25:18.

The third installment is no different. 6:06 a.m., 10:10 a.m. and unexpectedly 10:12 a.m. Fear, however, was not visible in the eyes of the Poles, rather it was determination. Różański at 1:12 p.m., Górecka after the 2:12 p.m. block. It’s time for Cesar Hernandez. The rivals tried twice in the middle, each time Kamila Witkowska jumped behind the net she put her hands on the ball, which fell on the rivals’ court. 4:12 p.m. The rivals probably didn’t believe it anymore. The last point of the match was scored by Monika Fedusio after one of the longest plays of the game.

As always, the Ergo Arena audience did not disappoint.

Poland – Korea 3: 0 (25:17, 25:18, 25:16)

Poland: Wołosz, Różański 14, Korneluk 7, Stysiak 15, Górecka 10, Witkowska 9, Stenzel (libero) and Szlagowska, Gałkowska 2, Wenerska, Fedusio 2

World Cup Group B results

Before the match between Poland and Thailand, two more meetings took place in Gdańsk. Turkey beat South Korea 3-0 with great confidence, allowing their opponents to score just 40 points. On the other hand, the Dominican Republic, after beating Croatia 3-0, is the second – after Poland – Group B team with a complete two-game winning streak.

Group B matches so far:

Poland – Croatia 3: 1 (25:19, 21:25, 25:23, 25:15)
Turkey – Thailand 2: 3 (25:17, 29:31, 25:22, 19:25, 13:15)
Dominican Republic – South Korea 3:0 (25:19, 25:12, 25:15)
Turkey – South Korea 3:0 (25:14, 25:13, 25:13)
Dominican Republic – Croatia 3-0 (25:20, 25:15, 25:21)
Poland – Thailand 3:0 (25:17, 25:17, 25:17)
Thailand – Croatia 3-0 (25:18, 25:13, 25:21)
Turkey – Dominican Republic 3: 2 (9:25 p.m., 10:21 p.m., 10:18 p.m., 4:25 p.m., 3:13 p.m.)
Poland – South Korea 3:0 (25:17, 25:18, 25:16)

They are still playing in Gdańsk until Saturday

Polish volleyball players will play the next Group B matches of the World Cup with the Dominican Republic (Thursday September 29) and Turkey (Saturday October 1).