The Men's World Championships have just finished and I was singing along, but the Women's World Championships are starting tomorrow, so I decided to pick up my pen and write something before then.
The final of this year's World Championships will be between the host country and defending champion Poland and the European champion Italy.
Italy won 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-20), winning their fourth title and their first in six tournaments since 1998.
The stadium was packed with around 11,000 enthusiastic Polish fans, and Italy was playing completely away from home, but the Young Italian team, whose starting lineup had an average age of 24.86 years, didn't let that stop them and put in a fantastic performance.
I would like to briefly write down what I thought and felt after watching the final match.
As expected of Janelli
Italy's setter Giannelli's performance in the final was spectacular.
The Italian team's current characteristic of high scoring ability, the three players on the wings, were fully utilized, while their nasty tossing style, which included quick passes at key moments, stood out.
He also scored many points himself in this match, 2 points from his serve and 5 points from his spikes, totaling 7 points. His serve led to a comeback with 4 consecutive breaks at the end of the 2nd set, and his spikes were surprising because he scored more points than the middle blockers. 10 spikes is too much for a setter (lol). But I think that caused a lot of trouble for the Polish blockers.
Although Giannelli is still 26 years old, he became a starter for the national team at age 18, and considering that he has won numerous titles, including with his club team, he already has more experience than a veteran. On the other hand, Janusz, who was a setter for Poland, is two years older than Giannelli, but he has only been a starter setter for the national team since this year, and only became the starting setter for a strong club team since last season.
I couldn't help but feel that the difference in setters' abilities becomes more apparent the bigger the stage.
Hats off to Lavia's performance
Giannelli was amazing, but outside hitter Lavia was also amazing.
Up until now, he had been overshadowed by his opposite number Micheletto and hadn't been very noticeable, but he has been in good form throughout this tournament. In the final, even though Micheletto and Romano were not in good form early on, Lavia consistently scored goals and was often entrusted with high balls. And he scored those high balls too.
He also showed outstanding stability not only in attack but also in defense. Poland's failure to break down this man and put pressure on him with their serves was probably one of the reasons for their loss.
I thought that he would naturally get an individual award because of his performance, but he got nothing. That's no good, FIVB. Wasn't it good that you gave it to MVP Ravia?
What's wrong, Clek?
In contrast to the in-form Gianelli and Lavia, Poland's captain, Kurek, was struggling.
In this game, the usual scoring machine was not in the shadows, and the spikes were not decided. Not only were they not decided, but there were many scenes where they lost points, and they were struggling very much. Attack was 7/22, with 6 points lost, and the effectiveness rate was 4.55%... I didn't want to see such a clerk. I think this was the first time I went down to the bench other than for two substitutions.
In addition to taking over as captain from Kubiak this year, I think there was a lot of pressure on him, such as hosting the tournament in his home country and expectations of winning the championship for the third time in a row. I'm not sure if these were the direct causes, but they must have had some impact.
But the determined service ace he delivered in the final fourth set was electrifying.
I wanted to see more of Silifka.
The player I'm most excited about on the current Polish national team is Silivka.
He is a southpaw and has a good balance between offense and defense, which is his strong point, but he struggled with serve reception throughout the tournament. However, in the final, he gave the impression of holding his own despite conceding some points.
After winning the first set, in the second set, when the serve came around at 19-18, Silivka was replaced by Fornal and went to the bench. The next server, Gianelli, had already taken an ace in the early stages, so I think this was a precautionary change, but Gianelli then switched his target to Semeniuk, who took an ace and broke four times in a row at once, sealing the set.
It's just a hypothetical situation, but if Sirihka had continued to serve there, Gianelli's serve aim would have changed and they might have been able to take the second set without allowing the comeback. Also, if Sirihka had played the fourth set instead of Fornal, something might have been different. Sirihka is also a great captain, so I think he could have calmed down the court without Krek.
I think he could have done more. I would have liked to see more.
Trent vs Zaksa?
This final was also reminiscent of the European Champions League finals between Trento (Italy) and Saksa (Poland) that have taken place over the last two years.
In fact, there were three players on the Italian court who played for Saksa as Trento (Gianelli, Micheletto, and Lavia), and six players on the Polish court (except for Krek) were Saksa or former Saksa members. When Kaczmarek took over for Krek, Poland was already Saksa (lol).
The Champions League has been won by Saksa for two consecutive years, with three players on the court both times: Micheletto in Italy, and Semeniuk, Silivka and Kaczmarek in Poland.
From Micheletto's perspective, it felt like he had finally repaid the debt he owed after two years in the Champions League.
The play that decided the game
In terms of match content, the first and second sets were a seesaw battle until the end, with the team that scored consecutive breaks from a big serve around the 20th point taking the set (Bieniek in the first set, Gianelli in the second). However, the third and fourth sets suddenly took the lead for Italy from the middle, and they went on to win the set against Poland.
The play that I personally thought decided the game was in the 4th set. Italy was leading 7-6 and the server was Italy's MB Russo. Russo picked up OP Kaczmarek's spike from the left with one hand and the ball returned directly to the Polish court, but Kaczmarek and libero Zatorski had a matchmaking situation and the ball fell on the court.
It was certainly a somewhat straight ball that was difficult to judge, but at this level it was not a ball that would be dropped at all. However, a momentary miscommunication led to a point being lost. I think the damage to the Polish team from this one play was very great. In fact, Italy extended their lead to 10-6 at once from this point, and Poland was unable to close the gap until the end and lost.
Considering this, it is no exaggeration to say that Russo decided the match, and bringing Russo in to replace the struggling Galassi midway through the second set may have been coach DeGiorgi's finest play of the match.
By the way, in the match between Japan and France, MB Jouffoer, who had come in as a substitute, raised Nishida's final spike with one hand to decide the match. It was only one rotation, and only one rotation at the time of the serve, but sometimes the game is decided by the middle blocker's dig.
Polish Fan
As expected, the Polish fans were amazing.
99% of the packed auditorium was painted in the red and white of the Polish flag, and most spectators were carrying Polish scarf towels. It was not uncommon to see people wearing headwear or with Polish flag paint on their cheeks.
After lining up, the crowd began the traditional a cappella singing of the Polish national anthem, and when the match started, the crowd cheered loudly for the Polish team (calling out each player's name when they served), and booed loudest when Italy served.
Every time the Polish team scored, the excitement was like a festival, and when Italy scored, the silence was like a funeral. The atmosphere was fluctuating wildly.
Unbearable.
It was a happy moment that made me realize once again that this is the best place in the volleyball world.
It was painful to see the expressions on the Polish fans' faces at the end of the fourth set, when Italy's victory was all but assured, but I was moved by the warmth of the fans when they erupted in a chorus of "Dziękujemy! (Thank you!)" even to the losing Polish team.
Conclusion
I am such a big fan of Poland that I can recite the Polish national anthem, so I was really disappointed that the Polish team lost, but the Italian team that won was so amazing that I have no complaints! (laughs)
But I hope they will get their revenge at next year's European Championships or the Paris Olympics. And next time, I'd like to sing Mazurka Dombrońskiego (Polish national anthem) with them at the awards ceremony!!
What was your impression? Please leave a comment if you like!
Photo: Author, FIVB
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