14/05/2015 09:08
Young white-and-red players vie for ticket to U21 World Championship
2015 FIVB U21 Men Volleyball World Championship - European Qualification
Belchatow, Poland, May 14, 2015. The city of Belchatow – one of Poland’s Volleyball ‘Meccas’ – is set to host from Friday through Sunday one of two second round qualification tournaments where a ticket to this year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship will be at stake. The hosts of Poland will play the national teams of Italy, Austria and France for a spot in the competition which is set to follow later this summer (September 11-20) in Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico.
The city playing host to this tournament is home to one of Poland’s most decorated Volleyball teams in history – PGE Skra BELCHATOW, a multiple national champion and the fourth-placed side from this year’s CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men. Poland’s libero, Kacper Piechocki (pictured), is one of the most experienced players on the roster of the home team, as this season he joined several matches of the PlusLiga as well as of the elite CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League.
The home heroes of Poland skipped the first qualification round played in January after winning silver at last year’s CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship in Brno where they lost the final to Russia in straight sets and where Piechocki received the award for the ‘Best Libero’ of the competition.
Since April Poland U21 men’s national team has been working under the guidance of Jakub Bednaruk, after their former mentor, Jacek Nawrocki, was called to lead the country’s women’s national team. The 39-year old Bednaruk is well-known for his work with youth players whose careers bloom under his watchful eye and later on in other clubs. Aleksander Sliwka and Artur Szalpuk, both playing for AZS Politechnika WARSZAWSKA, are among those particularly praised over the course of the last season.
“We are well prepared, we feel strong and we know what the game is about,” said Bednaruk. “Making it to the World Championship is our goal number one. We start this campaign very focussed and motivated.”
This week the Polish U21 national team had a sparring match against their senior colleagues and on Wednesday, after the evening training session, coach Bednaruk defined the players who are set to join the tournament in Belchatow. On Thursday, at 3pm, the white-and-red team will have their first official training session at Energia hall.
The players retained by coach Bednaruk for the upcoming tournament are:
Setters: Krzysztof Bienkowski, Jan Tomczak
Opposite: Bartlomiej Lipinski
Middle blockers: Jakub Lewandowski, Bartlomiej Mordyl, Jakub Zwiech
Outside spikers: Dominik Depowski, Pawel Halaba, Artur Szalpuk, Rafal Szymura, Aleksander Sliwka
Libero: Kacper Piechocki
Click here for further information including a detailed match schedule
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