Four down, four to go

Four of the quarterfinalists at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2022 are now known, and two teams also know their next opponents - USA and Poland will meet again on the way to the semis. Another four Round of 16 matches take place on Monday and Tuesday to determine the remaining match-ups.

· Watch all FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship 2022 matches live on Volleyball TV.

All four of the weekend’s games had their clear favourites. That did not stop three of the encounters going beyond three sets, however, and offering plenty of thrills to the spectators in Slovenia and Poland. The great thing is that the remaining four matches of the round are even less predictable.

The first quarterfinal match-up has already been set up. The United States and co-hosts Poland will meet in Gliwice on Thursday and it will be their second encounter at the World Championship, after they crossed paths in a Pool C game in Katowice.

The defending champions came back from a set down to defeat USA in four, but in all fairness, both teams had already advanced to the next round and the Americans rested their main setter and captain Micah Christenson. He made his return in the Round of 16, however, making a strong contribution to his team's victory against Türkiye. Libero Erik Shoji once again demonstrated how efficient he can be in defence, and his nine digs on Sunday evening propelled him to the top of the best diggers chart of the tournament. USA’s VNL 2022 captain David Smith also had a fantastic performance during the five sets against the Turks and, in a relatively rare occurrence for a middle blocker, was the team’s leading scorer. So in all likelihood, the hosts will have to pay extra attention to his first-tempo attacks and monster blocks.

Poland were the only team to win their Round of 16 match over the weekend in straight sets, facing few issues against Tunisia. Their middle blocker Jakub Kochanowski was in fantastic form, scoring 100 per cent of his attacks, hammering four aces and raising the anticipation of his face-to-face encounter with his American counterpart Smith on Thursday. Outside Kamil Semeniuk also excelled against the North Africans. He had a success rate of 69% in attack and topped the scorers’ chart of the match.

The other World Championship co-hosts, Slovenia started well in their first two sets against Germany on Saturday, but then had to battle hard in the next two and even bring in 20-year-old prodigy Rok Mozic to help overcome their opponents. All Slovenian players on the court contributed to the victory with outside Klemen Cebulj and opposite Toncek Stern leading the way in scoring. Their opponents in Wednesday’s quarterfinal will emerge from the unpredictable clash between the Netherlands and Ukraine on Monday evening (17:30 local time / 15:30 GMT) in Ljubljana.

Monday’s late match in the Slovenian capital, between France and Japan (21:00 local time / 19:00 GMT), will determine Italy’s rivals in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The Italians had a tough Round of 16 encounter with Cuba, which they were able to win after a four-set battle, led by opposite Yuri Romano with 14 spiking points at a 50% success rate. Setter and captain Simone Giannelli once again proved what a valuable asset he is to the team. So did experienced middle blocker Simone Anzani, who came in as a sub to help the team in a difficult moment and led the scoring in the last set with as many as five points – two spikes at a 100% success rate, two kill blocks and an ace.

The two participants in the fourth quarterfinal clash will emerge from Tuesday’s Round of 16 games in Gliwice, with Serbia and Argentina engaging in their duel at 17:30 local time (15:30 GMT) and Brazil and Iran locking horns at 21:00 (19:00).

FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Poland Slovenia 2022: Schedule and results

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FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Poland Slovenia 2022
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