World League 2009

i really wonder if there is a younger team than POland in WL
anyway it's good that they are finally getting a chance to "shine" cus Lozano did not give young players many chance to play

Quote from mateo

i really wonder if there is a younger team than POland in WL

I don't need to wonder. Couple of posts earlier you have complete list. Poland is 3rd the youngest.

Poland crashed Venezuela today with B team. Andy Rojas said his team hadn't enough time for preparation. Strange, but we'll see tomorrow if Venezuela can get even a point. Or maybe set?
Still there are games with Finland. If Swiderski and Winiarski are back possibly there will be a chance to get maximum points from Finland.

Quote from superbobo

Poland crashed Venezuela today with B team. Andy Rojas said his team hadn't enough time for preparation. Strange, but we'll see tomorrow if Venezuela can get even a point. Or maybe set?
Still there are games with Finland. If Swiderski and Winiarski are back possibly there will be a chance to get maximum points from Finland.

Swiderski and Winiarski won't play in WL , they are not in the rooster. it's still unknow if Winiarski will play this season at all he and Wlazly have some health issue and there is possibility that we won't see them playing this season for NT.

as for the game with Venezuela really great performance i'm surprice how this team is working they are so young and unexperiance and still they can play smart volleyball and their heads don't get overheated Zatorski will be such an amazing libero in future
Kurek is doing great job in this competition. his back row attack are just amazing the way he's spiking remind me Dante
so guys get that second place in the pool maybe we will get a wild card for F6 in Serbia

Quote from Konrad

There will be 27 000 spectators on Poland-Brazil games in Łódź this weekend

OMG!

I'm wondering, why volleyball is so popular in Poland?? Is it something on genetical level, or there is a receipt, how to achieve that in other countries?
People on Ukrainian forum ask, what's wrong here, that there is almost no interest to volleyball? Clubs are weak, hard to make TV channels to show matches. I suppose, Poland and Ukraine can be considered as quite similar countries. And it's not all about money. So, what do you do to attract so many people to volley?

27000 on two matches, so about 13 on Saturday and 13 on Sunday

About the popularity in Poland: I think it's quite irrational. I mean there's no real explanation why particularly volleyball is so popular. We had some successes in the past, e.g. the Olympic Games gold medal in 1976 and the World Championship in 1974. So, first of all, we have traditions in this discipline.
But then there was a sort of recession, our national team had a lot of problems and no successes for many many years. What changed the situation was the World League actually. The beginnings were tough, the team was young and was losing, and there were not so many spectators. But as the time was passing, volleyball was gaining more and more popularity, and after the silver medal in 2006, it reached its peak.
Why is that so? I don't know. Maybe because it's beautiful, simply And beause it's the most team sport of all team sports, as without other players you cannot do much.
Nothing can become more popular than football, which is even more irrational, as we have no successes and our NT is rather weak, I must admit. Not to mention clubs... But volleyball has a strong position. I can't say it's second, because there is no real evidence for it. But a strong position is a good expression.
What helps is also our league, the level of which is quite good.
Polsat television plays a role as well, as they do a good job broadcasting the Polish league, European Cups, all the matches of the World League, European Championships, World Championships and other tournaments. It was also a factor which contributed to the popularity of volleyball.

I have no idea what more I can add

Quote from LightMaster

I'm wondering, why volleyball is so popular in Poland??

good question i think there are few factors that make volleyball so popular in Poland
first of all we have 2 good teams . our football team is so bad that people seek for another sport dyscypline in which we are succes in and likely they choose volleyball. our girls won ECH twice in a row guys won silver medal on WCH in 2006 which was a HUGE boost to devolopment of Volleyball . company started to sponsr our teams our league grew stronger we have talented players we have money we have tons of fans and going to halls stop to be just supporting NT it start to be a show and great fun . you can take children to the hall and you don't have to worry about ur own safety . so people are visiting halls to enjoy their friday/saturday/sunday evenings

What a drama in Khabarovsk. Again some referee "mistakes" in help for Russia, but you'll see who will qualify. These last games WE will decide who will qualify, not you! It's time for revenge for Olympics. In Varna will be very hot and no referee mistakes will help you this time, Russians! Be sure .

it's not the first time referees are helping Russia. Cuba deserve victory but unfortunatly they lost but i gotta say i'm impressed with Cuba. they are so young and they are leading in "death" pool if no one escape from Cuba they can be a massive threat for every team in the world well actually they already are but in 2 3 years time they can be no 1 in the world

Very disappointed with referees’ decisions. On the other hand Cuba proved to be ready to challenge the biggest teams in the competition. Based on how they having been playing it will be sad if they do not go to the final, by winning their group or receiving the wild card.

Ouch! A 5-set loss to China!

The US men didn't received very well. They cannot dug balls. They cannot block. I dont know what's happening with this team.

While the Chinese men were serving sharp, attacking very well and most especially, they successfully blocked a lot of attacks from the US! All the while I thought I was watching the young Cuban team play. Very good!

Anyway, i am just happy that Clayton is officially back in his old form again with 21-big points. Rooney is performing very well. I am glad that with his height (6'9), he can receive decently if not excellently.

I hope for a win tomorrow against this same Chinese team.

One more game,
I was very excited about this week games, and have been thinking maybe too much about possible outcomes. Then decided to relax looking up to some statistics…..
I love numbers….and put together the list of 26 tallest players in the league:
217 A. Akazakov Rus
215 K. van Dijk Ned
215 D. Muserskiy Ned
212 L. Vissotto Bra
211 M. Mozdozonek Pol
211 A. Hein Usa
210 A Volkov Rus
210 H. Bian Chn
209 T. Barth Bra
209 L. Saatkamp Bra
209 W. Kooistra Ned
208 S. Ivanov Bul
207 T. Bogdanov Bul
207 B. van der Mark Ned
207 T. Vlam Ned
207 S. Starovic SRB
206 C. Liang Chn
206 G. Scholtis Arg
206 C. Piscopo Ita
206 R. Bontje Ned
206 L. Kadziewicz Pol
206 A. Kuleshov Rus
206 I. Milijkovic Srb
206 S. Rodney Usa
206 M. Sanchez Cub
206 R. Simon Cub

ARG: 1 player
BRA: 3
BUL: 2
CHN: 2
CUB: 2
ITA: 1
NED: 6
POL: 2
RUS 3
SRB: 2
USA: 2

Although NED has 6 players among the first 26th tallest players, is not the tallest team, look at the list…no surprises:
Height
RUS 200.94
SRB 199.94
NED 199.79
BUL 199.42
USA199.32
BRA 198.37
CUB 197.37
CHN 196.94
POL 196.58
ITA 196.37
ARG 195.37
VEN 195.37
FIN 195.05
FRA 195.05
KOR 193.84
JAP 189.53

Holy macaroni, Finland just beat Brazil. Never thought I'd see the day, incredible match!
FIN-BRA 3-2 (22-25,23-25,25-22,25-22,17-15)

Hmm interesting. Can u beat Poland, because we want wild card for WL too.

Quote from superbobo

Hmm interesting. Can u beat Poland, because we want wild card for WL too.

Well, either this will only encourage the team or they will be too satisfied with the win to really challenge Poland. Apart from maintaining a place in WL the other goal was to for once win Brazil and now they've done it.
I'm not sure if they really want to fight for the chance to advance to the final tournament in WL, since there is the WC qualifying tournament and European Championships coming up soon and we can't afford to lose key players before those. Tuomas Sammelvuo is already down. Probably a good effort at home against Poland and then the b-squad to the away games.

Japan - Bulgaria 1:3.

Quote from AFROMAN

Japan - Bulgaria 1:3.

Good morning, have u sleed well Tomorrow it will be Shimizu-Bulgaria 3-1

Quote from superbobo

Good morning, have u sleed well Tomorrow it will be Shimizu-Bulgaria 3-1

Shimizu wasn't the best scorer, and we will win again in the second game.