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The final round of the World League starts in Poland
The final stage of the largest commercial tournament, the World League, in which six teams participate, begins today at the Spodek Sports Palace in the Polish city of Katowice. Three of them became group winners according to the results of the so-called intercontinental round - the current holder of all major titles in Brazil, Russia and the USA. Bulgaria finished second in their four, but since Poland was first here, and as an organizer they were guaranteed a pass to the final stage, the bronze medalists of the 2006 World Championship, led by Matej Kaziiski, also received a ticket to Katowice. The remaining teams from second place in the groups - France, Cuba and Finland - could qualify for the wild card. Preference was given to “three-colored”. They were more deserving of a special invitation as participants in the final match of last year's World League, and besides, the Polish side strongly insisted on the arrival of the French.The Russian national team went to Katowice with the following composition: setters - Vadim Khamuttskikh (captain), Sergei Grankin, blockers - Alexey Kazakov, Alexander Volkov, Alexey Kuleshov, Alexey Ostapenko, finishing players - Pavel Abramov, Yuriy Berezhko, Alexander Korneev, diagonal - - Semyon Poltavsky, Evgeny Matkovsky, libero - Alexey Verbov.
Not so long ago, there were fears that, due to injuries received at the preliminary stage, the key players of the squad, Abramov and Poltavsky, might be left out of the final tournament of the World League, but the worst assumptions were not confirmed. For Ostapenko, Matkovsky, Volkov and Berezhko, participation in these competitions will be their debut at this level. Last season they did not compete in the Moscow final round, and before that, the Russian national team missed the World League for two seasons.
The tournament formula is as follows: the teams are divided into two trios, where they will play in one round. The two best teams each advance to the semi-finals, then matches are held for “gold” and “bronze”, that is, a total of ten fights will take place in Spodek over five days. The outsiders of the groups will share fifth and sixth places in the final classification. Russia is in serious company - the rivals of head coach Vladimir Alekno's charges in Group "F" will be the world and Olympic champions Brazilians and Bulgaria, which was also one of the three strongest teams at the 2006 World Cup in Japan. Naturally, when drawing up the regulations for the final round, the interests of the hosts were taken into account It will be a little easier for the Poles to reach the semi-finals - in the three “E” they will meet with France and the USA.
Poland has continued to experience a real volleyball boom for many years in a row, and sold-out matches with the participation of this team are guaranteed. All tickets have long been sold out. Local fans are true connoisseurs of volleyball, so the hall should not be empty at meetings with the participation of other teams. Budget hotels in Katowice are packed to capacity as fly ball fans flock to the city from all over the country.
Our team is not faced with the task of winning the World League at any cost. The main competition of the season is the September European Championship in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where you can qualify for the November World Cup in Japan and already there receive one of the first three Olympic berths. With an eye on Euro 2007, it was decided not to invite national team veteran Sergei Tetyukhin to the tournament in Katowice. On the other hand, the higher the place taken in the World League, the more prize money and points the participant receives towards the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) ranking. If the Russians get into the top three, it will be a worthy result, if not, no tragedy will happen.
The composition of the participants in the final stage looks somewhat unusual for two reasons. For only the third time in the 18-year history of the World League, the Americans continue to fight for the trophy after the intercontinental round. In the 1992 season, the Stars and Stripes achieved bronze, and in 2000 they finished sixth. The Italians, who did not receive a ticket to Katowice, on the contrary, were left out of the decisive stage only once before the current draw. Big surprises can be expected from the US team, which includes Lloy Ball, Tom Hoff and Clayton Stanley, who are well known to Russians from playing in the Super League.
All matches in our group will start at 19.00 Moscow time, and in the three “E” - at 22.00. Today Brazil - Bulgaria, Poland - France meet, tomorrow there will be matches France - USA, Bulgaria - Russia, on the last day of the preliminary stage Poland - USA and Brazil - Russia will fight. We draw special attention to the fact that in competitions under the auspices of the FIVB, in the event of equality of points, the primary criterion for the distribution of places is the ratio of goals, not sets. In official European Volleyball Confederation (EVV) tournaments, sets are more important than balls.