Congrats to Russia!
The men’s national team of Russia won the twelfth edition of the Hubert Wagner Memorial tournament that took place in Krakow. Host Poland and the teams of Bulgaria and China also took part in the 3-day competition on the eve of the FIVB Volleyball World Championship Poland 2014.
The Russians started off with two victories – 3:0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-17) over China and 3:1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 25-19) over Bulgaria. To claim the first place in the final standings, all they needed was to win two sets from their last match against Poland. So they did. The home side edged the Russians by 3:2 (22-25, 26-24, 20-25, 26-24, 15-9) to finish in second place. The Poles lost to Bulgaria by 2:3 (25:20, 23:25, 27:29, 26:24, 13:15) in a tight battle on opening day, but then shut out the Asian team by 3:0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-17). The team from southern Europe, led by its recently appointed head coach Plamen Konstantinov, finished the tournament with a dramatic 3:2 (25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 25-17, 20-18) win over China to end up third.
Final standings:
1. Russia (7 points)
2. Poland (6 points)
3. Bulgaria (4 points)
4. China (1 point)
Individual Awards:
Most Valuable Player (MVP): Dmitriy Muserskiy (RUS)
Best Spiker: Tsvetan Sokolov (BUL)
Best Blocker: Nikolay Apalikov (RUS)
Best Server: Piotr Nowakowski (POL)
Best Receiver: Alexey Spiridonov (RUS)
Best Libero: Krzysztof Ignaczak (POL)
Best Setter: Sergey Grankin (RUS)
