VNL 2022: Germany protects itself and doesn’t play match vs. China. France destroys The Netherlands, while a great Slovenia defeat Argentina!
5 min read
What a start in Day 3 of second Week 2 of the 2022 Volleyball Nations League in Quezon City!
The Germany Volleyball Federation is very dissatisfied with the decision of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) to give a forfeit win to China.
In short, the DVV issued an official statement regarding the walkover in the match, and the Germans feel clearly damaged by the FIVB’s decision.
In the morning, absolutely bizarre events took place in Philippines: the German team was forfeited because of the refusal to play against the Asian side, who the day before due to COVID-19 infection couldn’t employ six players to play a duel with France.
Then the Olympic champions got a walkover in their favor.
As we can learn from the statement issued by Germany, on June 18, 2022, Chinese players twice tested positive for COVID-19. They had to wait several hours for the negative results before the match with Germany started. German players were still concerned about their health and participation in the upcoming, but also remaining matches of the Nations League due to possible isolation if some people in the team catch corona after the match vs China.
“The world association rejected our repeated demands for a re-test of our planned opponent. The FIVB constantly refers to the local isolation regulations and ensures compliance with them. From our point of view, however, these minimum provisions are by no means sufficient to guarantee the necessary security in this case,” DVV published, adding that in numerous internal meetings and emails, they tried to find a solution with the FIVB that would allow them to play safely.
From their point of view, a new PCR test with determination of the CT value would make a better statement about the risk of infection possible. This would have given the FIVB the opportunity to minimize the risk for everyone involved but the organization refused to re-test Chinese players, even 5 days after positive PCR tests.
The FIVB also refused to move the game to a later date.
The bitterness of DVV is clearly visible in the following sentences from a statement: “The refusal of a ‘free test’ by the FIVB meets with a lack of understanding on our part. In Germany in particular, we’re used to dealing with the coronavirus differently and are committed to better international standards in the interests of the athletes.”
But all this makes sense….did the Chinese national team come out of positivity in just one day?
In any case, in first match of the day, regularly played France destroys The Netherlands in straight sets (25:14, 25:23, 25:13).
In this match, an Olympic champions trio debuts in VNL 2022: Clévenot, Le Goff, and captain Toniutti.
Winners of the match against China by forfeit due to Covid cases within the opposing team, a day earlier, they have spent just an hour on the court in Quezon City today. Apart from the resistance in the second set, the Netherlands couldn’t do anything to avoid the defeat by the Olympic champions, who now boast fifth victory in the competition and only one defeat.
Opposite Stephen Boyer was the most efficient of all, leading the team with 15 (11 attacks and four blocks), while Le Goff improved France’s blocking efficiency by leading the team with six blocks, dominant above all in the second set, registering three blocks in four plays to help his team turn a 13-11 deficit into a 15-13 lead.
Blocking was one of the main differences between the two teams, as France stopped their rivals at the net as many as 12 times, with the Netherlands managing to do the same just once!
Great performance also for Barthélémy Chinenyeze, with 83.33% in attack (10/12)!
Dutch star opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz had a quiet performance by his standards with only 11 points (10 attacks and one ace), but he was the most prolific player for his team.
“It’s always good to start the week with a straight-set victory,” said Toniutti. “We didn’t play yesterday, so they were on a little bit of a better rhythm than we were, but we started well and that gave us confidence. We have more Olympic champions on the team this week, but it’s a new season, we have new goals and we’re focused on what we have to do to be in the best shape during the entire summer.”
In third and last match of the day (in theory) a super Slovenia defeat Argentina with a score of 1-3 (20:25, 29:27, 18:25, 19:25) with captain Tine Urnaut who leading the scorers with 19 points.
🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
France 15
Poland 15
USA 14
Japan 13
Italy 12
The Netherlands 9
Slovenia 9
Brazil 9
Iran 9
Germany 7
China 6
Serbia 6
Canada 5
Bulgaria 5
Argentina 4
Australia 0
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— June 21, 2022 —
Pool 3 – Week 2 – Quezon City 🇵🇭
• 15:00 (Local Time) Slovenia – The Netherlands 0-3 (17:25, 21:25, 24:26)
• 19:00 (Local Time) Argentina – Japan 1-3 (25:27, 18:25, 25:17, 16:25)
Pool 4 – Week 2 – Sofia 🇧🇬
• 17:00 (Local Time) Australia – Canada 1-3 (25:18, 26:28, 19:25, 22:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 20:00 (Local Time) Iran – Bulgaria 0-3 (19:25, 23:25, 24:26)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
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— June 22, 2022 —
Pool 3 – Week 2 – Quezon City 🇵🇭
• 15:00 (Local Time) China – France 0-3 (0:25, 0:25, 0:25)
• 19:00 (Local Time) Germany – Italy 0-3 (16:25, 21:25, 22:25)
Pool 4 – Week 2 – Sofia 🇧🇬
• 17:00 (Local Time) Brazil – Poland 1-3 (16:25, 25:22, 16:25, 22:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 20:00 (Local Time) Serbia – USA 1-3 (24:26, 25:23, 23:25, 20:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
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— June 23, 2022 —
👉🏼 Pool 3 – Week 2 – Quezon City 🇵🇭
• 11:00 (Local Time) France – The Netherlands 3-0 (25:14, 25:23, 25:13)
• 15:00 (Local Time) China – Germany 3-0 (25:0, 25:0, 25:0)
• 19:00 (Local Time) Argentina – Slovenia 1-3 (20:25, 29:27, 18:25, 19:25)
Pool 4 – Week 2 – Sofia 🇧🇬
• 13:30 (Local Time) Poland – Canada 3-0 (25:16, 25:18, 25:16)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 16:30 (Local Time) Serbia – Brazil 0-3 (18:25, 24:26, 17:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 20:00 (Local Time) USA – Iran 0-3 (18:25, 27:29, 25:27)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
__________________
— June 24, 2022 —
Pool 3 – Week 2 – Quezon City 🇵🇭
• 11:00 (Local Time) Germany – The Netherlands 1-3 (25:22, 29:31, 23:25, 16:25)
• 15:00 (Local Time) Argentina – China 3-1 (25:22, 22:25, 25:22, 25:22)
• 19:00 (Local Time) Japan – Italy 3-2 (25:20, 21:25, 24:26, 25:19, 15:13)
Pool 4 – Week 2 – Sofia 🇧🇬
• 13:30 (Local Time) Serbia – Canada 3-2 (20:25, 19:25, 25:20, 26:24, 15:11)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 16:30 (Local Time) Iran – Brazil 0-3 (28:20, 23:25, 19:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 20:00 (Local Time) Australia – Bulgaria 3-2 (21:25, 25:13, 25:22, 20:25, 17:15)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
__________________
— June 25, 2022 —
Pool 3 – Week 2 – Quezon City 🇵🇭
• 11:00 (Local Time) Argentina – The Netherlands 2-3 (25:22, 23:25, 25:20, 19:25, 13:15)
• 15:00 (Local Time) Japan – France 0-3 (22:25, 25:27, 16:25)
• 19:00 (Local Time) Italy – Slovenia 3-0 (25:19, 25:16, 25:21)
Pool 4 – Week 2 – Sofia 🇧🇬
• 13:30 (Local Time) Canada – Iran 0-3 (21:25, 25:27, 18:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 16:30 (Local Time) Poland – Australia 3-0 (25:17, 25:19, 25:14)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 20:00 (Local Time) USA – Bulgaria 3-1 (25:12, 20:25, 26:24, 25:23)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
__________________
— June 26, 2022 —
Pool 3 – Week 2 – Quezon City 🇵🇭
• 11:00 (Local Time) Germany – France 1-3 (16:25, 19:25, 25:19, 21:25)
• 15:00 (Local Time) Japan – Slovenia 3-1 (25:21, 22:25, 25:18, 25:19)
• 19:00 (Local Time) Italy – China 3-0 (25:21, 25:18, 25:19)
Pool 4 – Week 2 – Sofia 🇧🇬
13:30 (Local Time) Serbia – Australia
16:30 (Local Time) USA – Poland
20:00 (Local Time) Bulgaria – Brazil
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