Wind blowing my hair, waves crashing against my feet and seagulls squawking above my head will always remind me not only of a seaside, but most of all…volleyball. You may ask why and the answer is simple – Euro Volley 2013 in Poland and Denmark.
The tournament is already behind us with Russia taking its first European Championship ever, Italy finishing just one step behind and Serbia on a third place. My energy involved in supporting the Polish team got somehow wasted after they did not qualify to the quarterfinals by loosing 2:3 an extremely fierce playoffs battle against Bulgaria.
However, this was not the game that I watched live but their last group phase match against Slovakia in Ergo Arena. It was an important and exciting game won 1:3 by the Polish team. The victory did not come come easily, looking at the amount of mistakes both sides made and Polish irregularity not only in the last couple of tournaments but most importantly during that day.
It all started good for the Poles, who came out to the pitch extremely focused and took the lead straight away. However, as the first set progressed they were losing their advantage. Eventually they managed to win the first set 24:26.
The hard part began with the second set, as it was the Slovakian team who dominated the court from the first ball. They led the set by 5 to 6 points all the way through and even though the Polish guys sprang into action at the end of the set they lost it 25:20.
Lost set acted like a cold shower on the Poles who began the third part in a full swing leading 6:8 on a first technical break. Bartosz Kurek presented his blistering attack on a couple of occasions helping his team to lead on a second technical break by five points. The set finished 19:25 in favour of the Poles.
The beginning of the fourth set showed a complete domination of the Polish team who left the pitch for the technical break leading 3:8. The cheering crowd went crazy as the advantage over the rivals rose to six points when going on a second technical break. Towards the end of the set the Slovakian team started to catch up on Poles and the atmosphere in the hall became tense but eventually the Polish team won this part 22:25 and the whole game 1:3.nted his blistering attack on a couple of occasions helping his team to lead on a second technical break by five points. The set finished 19:25 in favour of the Poles.
Some of my friends tend to say that wherever I go my country wins, which was a case this time again but I do not think I deserve any credit for that. However, its is a nice story to hear.
Looking at the atmosphere on volleyball pitches I always find it a shame that this sport is not as popular as football. Going through the town centre in Gdansk made me realize that apart from a couple of flags and a small hidden fan zone the championships were not strongly promoted. Slightly different to Euro 2012, which made people crazy about following the games.
However, when I think about it from a different perspective a “niche“ character can be a positive thing as well, attracting more sport-specific fans who create an amazing atmosphere in the arena.
