The 2024 Volleyball Nations League for men’s teams ended in the Polish city of Lodz. The hosts of the future Olympic Games unexpectedly won the final of the tournament and advanced to the Final Eight only from sixth place. Apparently, the French are incredibly motivated ahead of the home Games.
They will now welcome guests not only as reigning Olympic champions, but also as two-time Nations League winners.
Quarter finals
Based on the results of the preliminary round, the strongest teams in the world, according to their positions in the ranking, made it to the Final Eight: Slovenia, Poland, Italy, Japan, Canada, France, Brazil and Argentina. The bracket of the quarter-final tournament promised incredible intrigue, so it was really difficult to predict in advance who the finalists would be.
The most predictable was the match between the tournament leaders, Slovenia, who won 11 games out of 12, and the Argentines, who jumped to the last position in the Final Eight, with six wins out of 12 games. But the South Americans made the Europeans nervous, and it was not for nothing that they won medals at the Tokyo Games.
The teams took turns in the sets, so the outcome of the match was decided only by a tie-break. Only in the fifth game were the Slovenians able to turn the tide of the match and win 15:7.
The qualification provided for an even fight between Japan and Canada, which at the end of the preliminary phase ranked fourth and fifth respectively. But the world ranking speaks for itself: Japan seemed the clear favorite, as was proven in practice, with a 3-0 victory.
The Poles, reigning Nations League champions, like a year ago, faced the Brazilians, 2021 world champions, in the quarter-finals. The only meeting between them in the current tournament ended with a 3-1 victory for Brazil. But in the quarter-finals the Poles let the home crowd get the better of them. In the end, the same 3-1, but in favour of the home team.
Poland national team
Photo: volleyballworld.com
The central match of this stage was the meeting between the reigning Olympic champions from France and the 2022 world champions from Italy. The only continental derby in the quarter-finals went to a fifth set. The hosts of the future Olympic Games managed to come back twice and then win, breaking the opponent’s resistance in the tie-break.
“I don’t think many expected the match to be so difficult, but this young Italian team is very good,” said Zhenya Grebennikov, a libero for France and Zenit St. Petersburg.
Semifinals
More than 10,000 fans gathered at the Atlas Arena for the first match of the 2024 Nations League semi-final. Everyone wanted to watch the battle between the hosts of the venue and world ranking leaders Poland and the French, Olympic champions and hosts of the upcoming Games.
The Poles won the first set to the roar of the crowd (25:22). They then lost the second set by exactly the same score, and the third was won by the French 25:23. The home team gave the fans hope by winning the fourth set 25:20, but lost in the tie-break and the crowd in the arena was forced to remain silent.
Nations League (m). 1/2 finals
Saturday, June 29, 2024. 18:00 Moscow time
Poland: Huber – 18, Boladz – 13, Fornal – 12, Bednoz – 7, Kaczmarek – 5, Benek – 5, Leon – 3, Kochanowski – 3, Janusz – 3, Popivczak, Kurek, Lomacz, Semeniuk, Zatorski
France: Louati – 21, Faure – 20, Cleveneau – 14, Le Goff – 11, Patry – 6, Brisard – 3, Jouffroy – 3, Tilly – 1, Ngapet – 1, Seddik – 1, Grebennikov, Tognutti, Diez, Carle
The top scorer of the match was Yasin Luati, who replaced Ngapet in the lineup and scored 21 points. For the Poles, Norbert Huber scored 18 points.
“They served really well in the first two sets and it was quite tough. Our passers did a great job of not allowing them to hit too many aces, which made it difficult for them to maintain their level. We just played our game and were very strong defensively and I like the way we approached the match. We trained hard to play in moments like this and we are lucky to have done the job,” commented French setter Antoine Brizard on the result.
In the second match for the Nations League final, Slovenia and Japan faced each other. Remember that in the preliminary round, the Europeans, who finished first, lost only one of 12 matches. Only Japan.
In the semi-finals, the Slovenians were unable to cope with the second-ranked team in the world: 3-0 in favour of the Asians. The most productive player of the match was Japanese captain Yuki Ishikawa, who continues to lead the team. He scored 21 points against 20 for the tournament’s top scorer, Slovenian Tonček Stern.
League of Nations (m). 1/2 ends
Saturday, June 29, 2024. 21:15 Moscow time
Slovenia: Stern – 20, Cebul – 12, Paenk – 10, Kozamernik – 5, Urnaut – 4, Mozic – 3, Stalekar – 2, Planinsic, Toman, Bračko, Kovacic, Stern, Ropret, Mujanovic
Japan: Ishikawa – 21, Nishida – 18, Onodera – 9, Ohtsuka – 7, Yamauchi – 2, Takahashi – 1, Fukatsu, Miyaura, Sekita, Tomita, Ogawa, Kai, Yamamoto, Ebadedan-Dan
Japan has earned the right to compete in the Nations League final for the first time.
“Reaching the final makes us very, very happy. It was a very tough game and was played at a very high level. But I think each of our players had the right attitude today. Tomorrow we will play our last match and we must be prepared to do even more against France to win the title, which is our goal,” said Japan international Yuji Nishida.
The end
On the final day, the teams of Poland and Slovenia were the first to take to the court. To the delight of the home crowd, the Poles managed to put a fine end to the tournament, beating their opponents 3:0 and winning bronze medals.
For the world ranking leaders, this award is the fifth consecutive in the League of Nations: gold in 2023, silver in 2021, bronze in 2019 and 2022.
The most productive player of the match was Polish finalist Wilfredo Leon, who scored 18 points. But Toncek Stern could not help his team at the crucial moment: he scored only 11 points.
League of Nations (m). Match for 3rd place
June 30, 2024, Sunday. 18:00 Moscow time
Slovenia: Cebul – 14, Stern – 11, Paenk – 6, Mozic – 4, Kozamernik – 2, Urnaut – 2, Stern – 1, Ropret – 1, Mujanovic – 1, Toman, Bračko, Vincic, Stalekar, Kovacic
Poland: Leon – 18, Fornal – 11, Kurek – 10, Benek – 7, Kochanowski – 5, Janusz – 3, Kaczmarek – 1, Semeniuk – 1, Popivczak, Slivka, Lomacz, Zatorski, Boladz, Huber
“We are happy that we were able to play better than in the semi-finals. I wasn’t in my best form yesterday, but today we were able to win a bronze medal in front of our home fans, and that means a lot to us and to them. The tournament showed the level we have on the eve of the Paris Olympics and this is very important,” commented Leon on Poland’s result.
But the main attention of neutral fans was focused on the final match between France (5th in the world ranking) and Japan (2nd). Considering the smoother passage of the tournament by the Japanese, the victory of the “tricolors” by 3-1 was almost a sensation.
Nations League (m). The end
June 30, 2024, Sunday. 21:00 Moscow time
Japan: Ishikawa – 17, Nishida – 11, Miyaura – 10, Ohtsuka – 9, Onodera – 7, Takahashi – 7, Tomita – 2, Sekita – 1, Kai – 1, Fukatsu, Yamauchi, Ogawa, Yamamoto, Ebadedan-Dan
France: Patry – 24, Tilly – 13, Louati – 11, Le Goff – 9, Cleveneau – 5, Jouffroy – 5, Brizard – 1, Grebennikov, Tognutti, Ngapet, Diez, Faure, Carle, Seddik
In the preliminary phase, the team had ups and downs; Out of 12 games, the team managed to win only 8. But at the finish line, France found its rhythm and faced the three best teams in the world ranking: Italy, Poland and Japan. A well deserved trophy.
For the Japanese, this silver is similar to gold. First of all, this is their best achievement in the Nations League. And secondly, for the first time since 1977, the national team came to the fight for gold medals in major international tournaments.
“We are very happy to have reached the final, but today was a difficult match. Congratulations to France for winning the title. Competing in the final was a great experience for us and will help us prepare for the Olympic Games,” concluded Japan captain Ishikawa.
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“Japan is always a strong opponent. We try to be patient when we play against them, but it is always difficult to stay focused throughout the match. Winning the Nations League is a great way to prepare for the Paris Games, which is our main goal for the season. We wanted to reach the semi-finals, so there is nothing better than winning gold. We have a lot of guys who can come and help the team, and this is one of our main strengths,” said French forward Jean Patry.
France thus regained the title of Nations League champion, which it had already won in 2022. In just over a month we will see whether the national team has enough passion for the local Olympic Games or whether their opponents will use all their sporting anger against them.
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