France – Czechia 0: 3, Volleyball Miracle! The Czechs have eliminated the Olympic winners and are in the quarterfinals of the European Championships

Czech volleyball players rejoice in the victory, from left Josef Polák, Jan Hadrava, Martin Licek, Michal Finger and Adam Bartoš.

Jaroslav Ožana, ČTK

With the support of four thousand spectators in the auditorium, the Czechs started bravely, they were not afraid to attack in the middle and mainly benefited from the excellent defense in the field. They got to the lead at 18:11, France had no risk of servicing at all. Even though the favorite started to catch up, the home team patiently lost and used the first setball.

The astonished opponent tried to play a lot through his biggest star Ngapeth, but he seemed quite uncertain and the Czech blockers conducted by the 22-year-old Pole did a great job against him on the net. The representatives managed to push out of the service, the fantastic audience squeezed absolutely everything from them.

From left: Adam Zajíček, Jan Hadrava and Luboš Bartůněk during the match with France.

Jaroslav Ožana, ČTK

In the deafening atmosphere, the smashers Vašina and the alternating Bartoš played with great taste, and thanks to the perfect hammering of the blocks, the national team also managed the end of the second set, which it went to in the promising state of 21:16. The French just stared at each other in disbelief, their Brazilian coach Rezende folding his arms and the stunt hanging in the air.

Universal Patry and the well-mixing Clevenot tried to reverse the development, France gained a three-point lead in the third set, but the Czech team was unstoppable. The representatives went to the absolute edge of dedication and the third set reached an incredible ending. In the end, it was played for 41 minutes

At 22:24, the home team survived two French ensembles. Then, on the other hand, the opponent averted the end of the match right at eight Czech matchballs. Once even at a time when the hall was celebrating a storm, but France had a perfect challenge.

From left, Frenchmen Barthélémy Chinenyez, Earvin Ngapeth and Czech national team member Jan Hadrava.

Jaroslav Ožana, ČTK

At 32:32, however, Vašina attacked from the middle from the middle and during the subsequent exchange, Zajíček blocked Ngapeth from the left side, and after 92 minutes of incredible battle, the Czechs could rejoice in participating among the elite eight of the continent. They will compete for the promotion to Katowice, Poland, on Wednesday with Slovenia, which they sensationally defeated at the beginning of the championship!

The captain’s return didn’t help either

Slovenians from the Czech basic group passed second place behind Italy, unexpectedly succumbing to the Czechs and the Italians. The Croats also had a balance of 3-2 and finished third in the “deck” behind France and Germany. Today they were initially marked by the injury of the first recorder Cimafey Zhukovsky, the native from Belarus had to substitute at 6: 6 after a sharp shot in the eye by a teammate.

The Croats have since lagged behind the Slovenes, and Captain Zhukovsky’s return since the beginning of the second set has not changed anything. It was only in the third act that the Croatian team experienced a plot, which was arranged by several aces in the end, Leo Andrič. However, the Slovenians did not allow any further surprises.

Program, results and tables of the European Volleyball Championship