Poland defeated Slovenia in men’s volleyball on Monday, breaking their quarterfinal curse after being eliminated in the last eight at every Olympics since 2004.
The top team in the FIVB World Ranking, Poland defeated Slovenia in the first quarterfinal duel of the Paris 2024 Games, held at the South Paris Arena 1 on Monday.
The quarterfinals had long been a nightmare for the Polish team, who were stopped at this stage in the last five editions of the Olympics (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020). However, this time they powered through, beating Slovenia 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 25-20), led by last year’s EuroVolley MVP Wilfredo Leon’s 20 points (14 kills) and opposite spiker Bartosz Kurek’s 19.
Poland will next play the United States, which later beat Brazil 26-24, 28-30, 25-19, 25-19 in the last quarterfinal.
France Fights Back
Defending champion France found itself 2-0 down against Germany but, roared on by the home support at the South Paris Arena 1, fought back to progress to the semifinals with an enthralling 18-25, 26-28, 25-20, 25-21, 15-13 victory.
The quarterfinal between Italy and Japan also went the distance as the European side made a thrilling comeback from two sets down to win 3-2. Japan had match points, but it was Italy which kept its cool under pressure to come out on top with a 20-25, 23-25, 27-25, 26-24, 17-15 victory, led by 6-foot 9-inch outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto’s 24 points, which included 22 kills. (With inputs from agencies)
