VNL 2024: Slovenia stun France! Poland, The Netherlands, Cuba, Japan and Brazil ok
2 min read
Slovenia secured their second Volleyball Nations League 2024 victory by defeating current Olympic champions France in Antalya on Thursday.
The four-set match ended with the score of 3-1 (25:18, 25:22, 23:25, 25-21), with Slovenia’s opposite Toncek Stern leading the charge with 18 points, like French star Earvin Ngapeth, MVP of Tokyo 2020. Slovenia’s Klemen Cebulj and Rok Bracko also contributed with 13 and 12 points respectively.
Despite a grueling five-set match against the Netherlands just 24 hours earlier, Slovenia dominated the first set 25-18, and then they kept control in the second set, winning 25-22. France managed to win third set with the minimum gap, 25-23, but Slovenia sealed their victory with a 25-21 win in the decisive fourth one.
In other VNL matches in Antalya, Canada lost to Poland with the score of 1-3 (25:18, 20:25, 23:25, 21:25), and Pool hosts Türkiye suffered a close defeat to the Netherlands 2-3 (25:19, 25:20, 18:25, 21:25, 9:15), after wasting a 2-0 lead.
In Rio de Janeiro, after a tightly contested match, Cuba emerged victorious against Germany with a score of 3-1 (24:26, 20:25, 25:18, 23:25). The players led by head coach Michal Winiarski faced disappointment as they narrowly missed out on securing a win. Filip John stood out as the top scorer of the game, leaving the court with an impressive 26 points.
Cuba clinched the win after 1 hour and 50 minutes of intense play, but the rivals couldn’t hide their frustration.
Setter Jan Zimmermann expressed the team’s disappointment.
“It’s bitter,” he said, “we were ahead for two sets and lost them narrowly.”
On the same Pool, Japan celebrated their second win in as many games by beating Serbia in just three sets (25:20, 25:16, 25:22), while Pool hosts Brazil down Argentina at tie break, 2-3 (13:25, 25:20, 25:19, 23:25, 11:15).
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🏐| FIVB VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE 2024 | Thursday| May 23, 2024
| Pool 1 – Week 1 – Antalya 🇹🇷
• 14.00 (Local Time) | Slovenia – France 1-3 (25:27, 25:17, 19:25, 18:25)
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Canada – Poland 1-3 (25:18, 20:25, 23:25, 21:25)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Türkiye – The Netherlands 2-3 (25:19, 25:20, 18:25, 21:25, 9:15)
| Pool 2 – Week 1 – Rio De Janeiro 🇧🇷
• 14.00 (Local Time) | Cuba – Germany 3-1 (26:24, 25:20, 18:25, 25:23)
• 17.30 (Local Time) | Japan – Serbia 3-0 (25:20, 25:16, 25:22)
• 21.00 (Local Time) | Argentina – Brazil 2-3 (13:25, 25:20, 25:19, 23:25, 11:15)
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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Poland 6
2. Japan 6
3. Cuba 6
4. Slovenia 5
5. Italy 3
6. France 3
7. The Netherlands 3
8. Canada 3
9. Serbia 3
10. Brazil 2
11. Türkiye 1
12. Argentina 1
13. Iran 0
14. Bulgaria 0
15. USA 0
16. Germany 0
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🏐| NEXT GAMES | Friday | May 24, 2024
| Pool 1 – Week 1 – Antalya 🇹🇷
• 14.00 (Local Time) | Bulgaria – Canada
• 17.00 (Local Time) | France – USA
• 20.00 (Local Time) | The Netherlands – Poland
| Pool 2 – Week 1 – Rio De Janeiro 🇧🇷
• 14.00 (Local Time) | Cuba – Japan
• 17.30 (Local Time) | Iran – Italy
• 21.00 (Local Time) | Serbia – Brazil
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👀|QUICK LINKS
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• VNL 2024: ALL NEWS
• VNL 2024: CALENDAR
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