The top-ranked Poles are headed to the Round of 16 in Pool B of the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship.
Poland drubbed Qatar 25-21, 25-14, 25-19, to seal its place in the Round of 16 in the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao Monday night, Sept. 15.
The Poles improved to 2-0 in Pool B and are headed to the next round alongside the Netherlands, with one preliminary match remaining in their schedule.
After facing some early adversity in the first set, Poland tightened up its screws to quickly wrap up the game that lasted only 69 minutes.
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It was actually a close battle late in the opener, with Qatar breathing down Poland’s neck, 19-20, behind an attack by Youssef Oughlaf.
But an ill-timed service error from the Qatari side negated any positive momentum.
Poland then went on to score four unanswered points to reach set point, 24-19.
Qatar willed itself to save two of those, but the World No. 1 squad's sealing the frame was inevitable.
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Poland settled down and flexed its superior experience over the Qataris, dominating from there to finish off their foes.
Kamil Semeniuk paced Poland, which had the chance to shuffle its players in the resounding win.
Diagne Pape was the bright spot for Qatar in the losing effort with eight markers.
Poland will eye a sweep of pool play when it locks horns with fellow unbeaten Netherlands in the same Cubao venue Wednesday, Sept. 17.
Tipoff is at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, also-ran Qatar tangles with another winless team in Romania to wrap up their own campaigns in the earlier game on the same day at 10:30 a.m.
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Luisa Morales is a sportswriter with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team and mixed martial arts.