VNL 2024: Gold for France! Japan defeated in four sets. Third place for Poland

Gold for France!
The players around head coach Andrea Giani celebrated their second FIVB Volleyball Nations League success after Bologna 2022 in what was a very important success waiting for Olympic Games 2024 in Paris.
In final, in which they needed four sets to down a combative Japan, 1-3 (23:25, 25:18, 23:25, 23:25), Jean Patry scored 24 points including 3 winning blocks and 1 ace, while his former teammate in Italian Superlega with the jersey of Allianz Milano Yuki Ishikawa tallied 17 points for Japan. For the winners, also 13 points for Kevin Tillie and 11 by Yacine Louati, for Japan 11 from Yuji Nishida and 10 from Kento Miyaura.
France was also better in blocking, with 11 points from this element compared to the rivals’ 5.
For the winners, this was their fourth medal in VNL after a Silver in 2018, a Bronze in 2021 and the above mentioned Gold in Bologna, Italy, in 2022.
For Japan, this was the better result after the Bronz last year in Gdańsk.

In game for Bronze Medal, Poland dominates Slovenia to claim a well-deserved third place.
The finals hosts secured a clean 0-3 (24:26, 16:25, 17:25) victory resulting in fifth consecutive medal in the competition and their third bronze.
Interestingly, in the current season, the Polish women’s team also achieved a bronze medal in the VNL!
Slovenia, who won the preliminary round of the competition, finished fourth for the second time in history, replicating their 2021 result. Poland’s consistent performance in recent years includes bronze (2019), silver (2021), bronze (2022), and gold (2023).
Wilfredo Leon was the most prolific player today with 18 points followed Tomasz Fornal with 11, while Klemen Cebulj scored 14 points and Toncek Stern added 11 for Slovenia. Poland’s dominance was evident with a super 16-4 advantage in blocking and an 8-4 edge in serve points.
Despite not defending their title won last year in Gdańsk, Poland maintained their podium streak, while Slovenia’s fourth-place finish, mirroring their 2021 performance, highlighted their strong showing in the league. However, fatigue from securing an Olympic ticket impacted their performance in the final stages. Despite leading late in the first set, they could not capitalize, losing momentum and allowing Poland to dominate the rest of the match.

__________________

🏐| FIVB VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE 2024 |FINALS @ Łódź 🇵🇱

• BRONZE MEDAL MATCH | 17:00 (Local Time) | Slovenia – Poland 0-3 (24:26, 16:25, 17:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

• GOLD MEDAL MATCH | 20:00 (Local Time) | Japan – France 1-3 (23:25, 25:18, 23:25, 23:25)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

🏆| AWARDS CEREMONY

__________________

👀|QUICK LINKS
• All International news 🗞️
• VNL 2024: ALL NEWS
• VNL 2024: CALENDAR
• Multimedia
• Facebook
• Instagram

__________________