2018 Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner
- August 24th-26th, 2018
- Tauron Arena, Krakow, Poland
- Teams: Poland, France, Russia, Canada
- Official website
- TV: Polsat Sports and Polsat Sport Extra
- Day 1
Poland and Russia had to give it their all to be able to come out of day 2 with tie-break wins against France and Canada, respectively. Now, the two squads will go head to head in the final day of the tournament to find out who is the taking Wagner gold. Here is the day’s recap:
Poland x France
After a relatively easy 3-0 win against Canada in opening day, the home Polish squad had to dig deep against the French in order to get out of their match up with a 3-2 win. After being able to squeak out a brutal 30/28 first set with a win, Poland lost the next two sets 25/21, 25/22. It bounced back in the fourth frame 25/21, forcing the tie break, where it closed out the match 15/13. Jakub Kochanowski led the way for the Polish squad with 17 points while Jean Patry had 27 points in the losing effort.
Scoring Tallies:
Poland: Kurek (9), Łomacz (1), Kubiak (12), Kochanowski (17), Śliwka (4), Bieniek (16), Konarski (7), Szalpuk (11 ), and Kwolek (1)
France: Patry (27), Toniutti (2), Tillie (8), N’Gapeth (9), Le Roux (10), Le Goff (2), Lyneel (5), Brizard (1), Bultor (6) and Rossard (11)
Here are the post match reactions:
“We are getting better with each passing day. We definitely played better today than with Canada. Every day, when leaving the court, we know we gave our maximum. Sometimes someone wants to give too much and the effects are not what we want. I hope that we are at our best form by the World Championships.” – Michał Kubiak, captain of the Polish national team
“I talked to coach Tillie before the match. He is not only a great man, but also a trainer. We talked about it, that it’s great to play a friendly match with the participation of the fans, who support their team so much. Coach Tillie criticized his team a bit, but they actually lost a small number of points. I’m glad I could play such a large number of players today. I am slowly starting to like Wagner’s Memorial.” – Vital Heynen, coach of the Polish national team
“I congratulate the Polish national team. Today we did not take advantage of our chances in the first set, we had a few counterattacks, which we could’ve finished the set with. We definitely played better than the first day of the Memorial. We will continue this work and I believe that with Canada we will play better and finish this tournament well. Later we will have a week for the next stage of preparations for the World Championship – we will play against Serbia.” – Benjamin Toniutti, captain of the French national team
“I was a little afraid of this meeting. My team looked tired yesterday, and today we lacked speed and motivation, especially in the block and at the service. Playing with Poland in front of the Polish audience is always pleasant. It was a very interesting match, there was also healthy competition between us coaches. Tomorrow we want to fight Canada for the first victory in this year’s edition of Memorial.” – Laurent Tillie, coach of the French national team
Russia x Canada
After getting blown out in their opening day match against the home Polish team, the Canadian national team gave Russia a scary run for its money. Even after starting the game 0-2 (25/17, 25/22), the Canadian team bounced back against the current VNL champions by taking the next two sets (22/25, 21/25). The tie break could’ve gone either way, and as a heartbreak to the Canadians, it went to Russia 21:19. Dmitry Volkov led the way for Russia with 15 points, while Nicholas Hoag had 23 points in the losing effort.
Scoring Tallies:
Russia: D.Kovalev (4), Wolvich (12), D.Volkov (15), Berezhko (11), Mikhailov (8), Kurkaev (14), Verbov (l), Sokolov (l), Rodichev (3), Poletaev (14)
Canada: N. Hoag (23), Blankenau (1), Sclater (8), Vigrass (4), Schwarz (4), Leppki (5), S. Marshall (l), Van Berkel (11), Derokko (3), Vernon- Evans (20), Vandorn (5)
Here are the post match reactions:
“It was a good match and a nice test for both teams, because we played a five-setter meeting. The rival’s service caused us the most problem because we had a problem with our receiving. Until the end it was not known who would win this meeting. I would also like to thank the fans for the atmosphere, it was amazing.” – Sergei Grankin, captain of the Russian national team
“It was an interesting match. My goal was to check what my players were able to do. I now have a lot of information about the individual capabilities of my players. We know what to work with individual players now.” – Sergei Szliapnikov, head coach of Russia
“The attitude of our young, less experienced players, was impressive. I liked their performance, their attitude is also building up. They started the match a little nervously, but later they got better and better. Playing in such an atmosphere, with such fans was something amazing.” – John Perrin, captain of the Canadian national team
“We played better than the first day of the tournament. First of all, we had time to rest. We mobilized for this match. As we know, we are struggling with our problems. It is known that Russia is a difficult and confident rival. However, we were very close to victory. I hope that we will be able to maintain this high disposition for the World Championships.” – Stephane Antiga, coach of the Canadian national team
STANDINGS
- Poland – 5 Points – 6-2 on sets
- Russia – 5 Points – 6-3 on sets
- France – 1 Points – 3-6 on sets
- Canada – 1 Point – 2-6 on sets
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