The Slovenian women’s volleyball team will start their performances in the qualifiers for the Olympic Games in Paris on Saturday in Lodz. The Slovenian women’s first match is against the Polish women, followed by six more matches, with the national team ranked lowest.
The Slovenian women won the Olympic qualification with the 25th place in the world ranking. Marc Bonitta’s protégés will start the qualifiers, which will be hosted by Łódź in Poland between September 16 and 24, with a match against favored Poland.
Competitors of Slovenian women in qualifying group C will also include German, Thai, South Korean and Colombian women. In the competition of eight national teams in central Poland, Slovenia is ranked lowest. The best two national teams in the individual qualification group qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris.
A chance to play with non-European girls
Slovenian coach Marco Bonitta predicts a good game and points out that his girls are already very much looking forward to the challenge: “It will be a second chance for us to play against the best teams in the world, especially non-European ones like the USA, South Korea and Colombia.”
The captain of the national team also confirms his words Saša Planinšec: “We have very tough matches against very good opponents, but I think these are the matches that we play volleyball for. I can’t wait to face countries that we don’t usually have the opportunity to meet. We had some time to rest. and devoted themselves to certain elements in their game. We are ready to play in Poland. I think we have some opponents in the group against whom victory is possible and the whole team believes in that. We will do everything to achieve that.”
Slovenian women spent ten days preparing for the qualification for the Olympic Games in Ravenna, Italy.
The Slovenian team includes Katja Banko, Naja Kukman, Mirta Velikonja Grbac, Lorena Lorber Fijok, Anja Mazej, Nika Milošič, Iza Mlakar, Sara Najdič, Saša Planinšec, Eva Pogačar, Maša Pucelj, Mija Šiftar, Eva Zatković and Isa Ramić.
OLYMPIC QUALIFICATIONS GROUP C, Lodz
Slovenia matches
Saturday at 5:30 p.m.: POLAND – SLOVENIA Sunday at 20.45: ITALY – SLOVENIA Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.: USA – SLOVENIA Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.: GERMANY – SLOVENIA Friday, September 22, at 2:30 p.m.: THAILAND – SLOVENIA Friday, September 23, at 11:30 a.m.:COLOMBIA – SLOVENIA Saturday, September 24, at 11:30 a.m: SOUTH KOREA – SLOVENIA
Source: Rtvslo
