Photo by Christel Saneh/Christel Saneh for Special Olympics
It was a packed first day of action for the Unified Volleyball World Cup at Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland yesterday. The tournament’s first 6 games set the tone for what is to come over the rest of the competition.
Teams jumped right into group stage play on the Men’s/Mixed side with Special Olympics Austria and Special Olympics Slovakia taking each other on in the first match of the tournament. After a competitive two sets (best of three) Special Olympics Slovakia sealed the win over Special Olympics Austria.
Emerging quickly to solidify themselves as attacking threats in the tournament were Slovakia’s #1, Rastislav Kotlar, and #11, Noel Brajercik. Brajercik scored the first point of the Cup and went on to help lead his team to their well-earned victory over Austria.
Kotler, playing left outside hitter, stood out as he threatened the Austrian defense with a string of impressively placed passes to the middle hitter/blocker and far-side outside hitter who were able to capitalize for multiple points to secure the first set.
Brajercik and Kotlar continued their hot streaks into the second set claiming the win over Special Olympics Austria 2:0. Special Olympics Austria is slotted to face Saudi Arabia at 9:00am CEST on Monday, 6 October followed by Special Olympics Slovakia and Special Olympics Finland at 10:30am.
The other matches from the first day of action saw Special Olympics Iraq beat Special Olympics USA in 2:0 sets (Men’s/Mixed), Special Olympics Saudi Arabia beat Special Olympics Finland in 2:0 sets (Men’s/Mixed), Special Olympics UAE beat Special Olympics Italy 2:0 in sets (Women’s), Special Olympics Ukraine beat Special Olympics Mongolia 2:0 in sets (Women’s) and lastly, Special Olympics Bharat beat Special Olympics Namibia 2:1 in sets (Women’s).
The matchup between Special Olympics Bharat and Special Olympics Namibia was a battle. Bharat took the early lead winning the first set, but Namibia’s team fought back to force a tiebreaking third set. After series of long rallies between the two sides, Bharat was able to trickle ahead and lock in the win with a well-placed tap over the net that Namibia could not return.
Special Olympics Poland and Special Olympics Serbia along with Special Olympics Kenya and Special Olympics Serbia were slated to play on Sunday, 5 October and will now faceoff on Monday, 6 October due to travel delays. The shift in games does not affect the overall tournament play.
Photo by Iñaki Esnaola
| Group A Men’s/Mixed |
Group B Men’s/Mixed |
Group C Women’s |
Group D Women’s |
| POL | AUT | ITA | KEN |
| IRQ | FIN | NAM | MGL |
| USA | KSA | IND | UKR |
| SRB | SVK | UAE | SRB |
** IND is Bharat (India) **
Coming up on Monday, 6 October:
9:00 CEST:
- Special Olympics Austria vs. Special Olympics Saudi Arabia – Court #1
- Special Olympics Poland vs. Special Olympics USA – Court #2
10:30 CEST
- Special Olympics Finland vs. Special Olympics Slovakia – Court #1
- Special Olympics Iraq vs. Special Olympics Serbia – Court #2
12:00 CEST
- Special Olympics Kenya vs. Special Olympics Ukraine – Court #1
- Special Olympics Italy vs. Special Olympics Bharat (India) – Court #2
13:30 CEST
- Special Olympics Mongolia vs. Special Olympics Serbia – Court #1
- Special Olympics Namibia vs. Special Olympics UAE – Court #2
15:00 CEST
- Special Olympics Poland vs. Special Olympics Iraq – Court #1
- Special Olympics Austria vs. Special Olympics Finland – Court #2
16:30 CEST
- Special Olympics USA vs. Special Olympics Serbia – Court #1
- Special Olympics Saudi Arabia vs. Special Olympics Slovakia – Court #2
18:00 CEST
- Special Olympics Poland vs. Special Olympics Serbia – Court #1
- Special Olympics Kenya vs. Special Olympics Serbia – Court #2
Follow along with the action live on Special Olympics and Special Olympics Poland’s YouTube channels.
