Posts by Polish96

What determination Estonia shows against Romania

I will also join everybody in complimenting CEV At first, I thought 24 teams was a bad idea, mostly because it meant just a handful of teams wouldn`t pass the qulification, but wow, the level is amazing, and so is the atmosphere. I especially didn't expect such interest in Slovakia. Can`t wait for the knockout round, something tells me it`ll be incredible.

Coach of Monza, Migueal Angel Falasca is dead

I don't know if Iran underappreciated Portugal, or just doesn't care as they are this close to qualifying to the finals, but I think that either way the level of Portugal improved greatly since they started the tournament.

Honestly I think Iran may finally get a medal here.

Too many errors in the tie-break for Portugal Shame, because with this win they could really start thinking about staying in the VNL. Oh well, I still think they are capable of beating at least Japan and Australia...

Awful refereeing in the Poland - Iran game. I havent seen such bad refs in a long time...

Oh, and I have to say I was extremely disappointed in the lack of interest in Cannes Sure, it's hard to call Nations League a top-tier competition, but I thought after recent successes of their NT, and last year's amazing final tournament, people in France would be more interested than that

So Bulgaria managed to win, and I think that with 3 wins so far they along with Canada are pretty much qualified for the next year's VNL, especially since they play on their home ground and are more than capable of beating Japan. I still believe Australia will be the team that's relegated this year. Portugal should beat China, I wouldn't be surprised if they got a 3-2 win against the extra-experimental Serbian team, and I think they'll have more points then AUustralia after this weekend.

So it finishes only 1-3 Shame because Portugal really played well, but they wasted many opportunities in 3rd set.

Great second set for Portugal Even one set against USA is a pretty good result for teams like that, and they keep fighting, so I hope they'll be able to win at least one more.. .They'll play home next week so I hope they manage to beat China, and who knows, with a little bit of luck they can even beat or at least get a point against Serbia, if they continue to play like they do.

Quote from kyle7in1

Someone said Kubiak was banned for 6 matches? What happened?

They have not played against Iran yet, then drama already started?

He said some really disgusting stuff about people of Iran (someone posted that in Polish NT thread). To me the punishment is ridiculous, as it's only goal is not to punish Kubiak ( it was known a while ago that he'd only play the first week of NL) but to make sure he doesn't get a bigger punishment from FIVB.

Iran plays surprisingly well this edition.

Kubiak suspended for the tournaments in China and Iran. Pretty hard to call this a "punishment" because he wasn't going to be there in the first place

I'm happy for Portugal I was quite surprised how well they played today. I actually expected them to win some games, but I never predicted they'd win against Bulgaria Sadly, I feel like Australia is going to be the worst challenger team. Too bad, as they really made some progress, and even after this weekend, they deserved more than just 1 point.

I have to say,Australia shows some really good volleyball today.

Quote from YavorD

As I have heard some complaints over the years as to how Bulgaria (and no one else) fails to be a good organizer (by some wanna-be pundits only, of course, but still), with last year's WCH as the latest example, I now have to point out that USA and Brazil, two of the game's powerhouses, are playing in front of an iconic but empty Spodek Hall in Katowice. Nothing more to add, without aiming for a brawl in any way.

Otherwise, 3 from Long Beach State's recent back-to-back collegiate champions start for USA (the setter Tuaniga, DeFalco, and Ensing). Tuaniga is doing great so far. I liked Ma'a more, to be honest, don't know what his form is or how he's been doing this year so far.

I enjoyed watching the very young German roster today. There are some other promising players in VCO Berlin, for instance, and they should have bright years ahead. The most impressive performance so far today belongs, in my opinion, to Pouria Fayazi.

According to FIVB's official stats, almost 6.000 in attendance at the USA-BRA game in spodek. http://www.fivb.org/vis2009/getdocument.asmx?no=256206793. Also according to FIVB, 420 fans in attendance at FRA-SRB game during 2nd group stage match in Varna at 2018 the World Championship. http://www.fivb.org/vis2009/getdocument.asmx?no=256119950

Personally, I don't think it's ONLY Bulgaria, but horrible attendance at both 2018 World Championship and 2015 European Championship, especially at the games played in Varna, is simply a fact.

Iran 3-1 Italy

China 3-2 Germany

Serbia 3-0 Japan

USA 3-2 Brazil

France 3-1 Russia

Poland 3-1 Australia

Canada 3-1 Bulgaria

Argentina 3-2 Portugal

Quote from YavorD

FIVB announced the hosts and pretty much outlined the qualification process for the 2022 WCH in Russia. Source: FIVB

The hosts will be Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, and Novosibirsk. Two further host cities will be announced later. I guess that makes 10 gyms/cities in total, in case Moscow, for instance, hosts with only one.

Now, here comes the more interesting part - the qualification. There are two aspects to notice:

1. "The top two teams from each of the 2021 Continental Championships will secure qualification."
2. "The final 12 places will then be decided leaving the top 24 teams as per World Ranking who have not yet qualified, to compete for the remaining places."

I like part 1, as discussed already in March, and I am very disappointed with part 2. Continental championships will allegedly be given more weight, in case they keep those intentions. However, you have to make it to the final of your continental championship in 2021 if you want to qualify and if you are below position 35-36 in the World Rankings. There you go, you may now see why I disapprove this qualification system.

Feel free to share your opinion, I already stated my disappointment in March.

Display More

Poor Ruben Acosta First Graca & co. ruin the World League, now this.

So wait, how many teams are going to play the finals? I read somewhere that top 8 qualifies, but the wikipedia still claims it's only 6.