On the way to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the German volleyball players celebrated their next success with a lot of effort.
National coach Vital Heynen’s team won the qualifying tournament in Lodz, Poland, 3:2 (25:13, 25:21, 23:25, 22:25, 15:7) against South Korea and took their third win in the third game. Outside attacker Lena Stigrot was the most successful player for the selection of the German Volleyball Association (DVV) with 19 points.
Strong start, strong finish
On Tuesday (September 19th, 2023) it looked like the Germans would have their next confident victory for a long time. But after losing the third set, the fourth was quickly lost – it was only in the last round that Heynen’s team picked up decisively again and used the first match point to win.
It was the third win in the third game – the Germans had previously beaten Colombia and outsiders Thailand.
Germany is once again the favorite in the upcoming duel with Slovenia on Wednesday (8:30 p.m.). Then on Friday (5:30 p.m.) it’s against the Poles, who ensured that the Germans were eliminated from the round of 16 at the home European Championships.
Difficult tasks lie ahead
Finally, World Cup third place Italy (Saturday, 8:45 p.m.) and Olympic champion USA (Sunday, 5:30 p.m.) await the DVV team – the nominally toughest opponents. Only the two best teams in the group secure participation in the summer games.
A total of 24 teams in China, Japan and Poland will be fighting for six tickets to Paris 2024 until September 24th. France is set to host, and five more starting places will be awarded next year via the world rankings. Successes in the qualifying tournament are also important for the ranking.