The group draw for the first phase of the Olympic women’s volleyball tournament was held in Bangkok. Italy avoided the bogeyman Serbia but will challenge Vargas and Santarelli’s Turkey
They will be Türkiye, Holland and Dominican Republic the opponents ofItaly by Julio Velasco in the group of the first phase of Paris 2024 Olympic tournament. This was established by the draw carried out in the Italian morning Bangkok, home of the final eight of the VNL, which will see the Italians make their debut Friday at 12 facing the reigning Olympic champions of the United States, already beaten a few days ago in week 3 of the national selection event.
Boskovic avoided, but what a challenge between Egonu and Vargas!
Italy she showed up at the Olympic group draw as seeded together with France (since host country) e Brazil, currently the first team of FIVB ranking (Italythanks to the excellent results obtained in the current year VNL, rose to second place).
The greatest danger certainly came from presence of Serbia in the fourth pot: the Balkan formation, which in VNL he rested a good part of the starting sextet (absent for example Tijana Boskovic), is certainly one of the major contenders for the gold medal. In the end the Serbians ended up in pool A together with France, USA and China in what promises to be a iron circle.
However, the Italian group is not an easy one: Daniele Santarelli’s Turkey is the reigning European champion teamhas Melissa Vargas who is considered by many to be the best player in the world (in any case in a hypothetical Olympus together with Gabi, Boskovic and Egonu) and precisely the Italian coach who, after having won everything with Conegliano, wants to give himself another unforgettable summer. The challenge against Paola Egonu promises sparks: if Velasco he wanted a reliable test immediately, he couldn’t have asked for more.
With the Netherlands the rematch of the final for the European bronze
However, it is also worth keeping an eye on on the other two formations placed in the group with Italy. Holland for example clearly beat Italy in the final for the European bronze last September, and therefore it is an opponent to be taken with due caution. There Dominican he is certainly the weak link of the group, however recently beaten 3-0 by the Velasco girls (without too much effort).
The feeling is that of playing However, the primacy in pool C will be Italy and Türkiye: the last precedent, a month old, saw the Italians prevail 3-1 thanks to a super display of Kate Antropova (Egonu was still absentlike all the players of Milan and Conegliano, being week 1), even if the wound relating to the knockout is still fresh. remedied in the semi-final of the Europeans of the past year, when the the Turks won in a comeback 3-2 (with Italy in control halfway through the fourth set, heading towards the final).
Italy must dispel the medal taboo (for women)
There formula of the Olympic tournament, which will also be the same for the men’s competition (draw expected in a week, because from tonight we start with week 3 which will see De Giorgi’s Italy against Poland at 8.30pm), predicts that the top two teams from each of the three groups plus the two best runners-up will qualify for the quarter-finals.
The direct elimination phase will lead directly to the medal finals, with the Italians hoping to dispel the taboo which has never seen them win an Olympic medal in the entire history of the games. But first Velasco wants to try to win the VNLa trophy that has only once ended up on the trophy cabinet of the Italian national team in the 2022 edition. The growth shown in recent weeks, and which it also allowed Italy to present itself as top seed at the Olympic draw, bodes well for what is an objective that no one wants to take for granted. This is the outcome of the Paris 2024 Olympic group draw.
Pool A: France, USA, China, Serbia.
Pool B: Brazil, Poland, Japan, Kenya.
Pool C: Italy, Türkiye, Holland, Dominican Republic.
