Reigning world champions and FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2022 co-hosts Poland played their final test match against Argentina at the Spodek arena in Katowice on Tuesday evening. The head coaches agreed to play four sets, which were won by the the home team.
Men's World Championship 2022
Poland complete warm-up with victory against Argentina
Published 09:06, 24 Aug 2022
The other co-hosts of this year's Men’s World Championship, Slovenia played against Iran earlier in the day, also without losing a set.
Poland had already had a chance to play against the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games bronze medallists at the Hubert Jerzy Wagner Memorial tournament last week, at the TAURON Arena in Kraków - a match they won in straight sets. The Polish players, supported by thousands of enthusiastic fans, were the undoubted favourites of Tuesday’s game and started well, highlighted by a great performance by their team captain, opposite Bartosz Kurek (25-20).
The second set was a show of Polish dominance, which quickly led the hosts to secure an advantage on points. They did not leave any room for doubt as they cruised to an eight-point advantage (25-17).
Argentina, led by coach Marcelo Mendez, was not going to give up without a fight though, however, and the third set was the closest of the match. The players from South America managed to take the lead a couple times, but in the end lost 25-22.
The additional fourth set was opened by Poland with some substitutions. The national team's second opposite Lukasz Kaczmarek appeared on the court, and was efficient in attack, helping his team gain victory in this set too.
Both teams now await the start of their World Championship journeys. Poland will play their first match against Bulgaria on Friday at home, in Katowice, while Argentina will travel to Ljubljana to meet with Iran on Saturday.