Umag, Croatia, June 22, 2013 – With lots of support from friends and family Poland’s Maciej Kosiak and Maciej Rudol were the last ones to reach the semifinals of the U21 World Championships in Umag. In a late evening match they defeated Russia’s Maxim Zhirkov and Ostap Firzov in two sets: 21-16 21-17.
Twenty-year old Kosiak has fond memories of Umag. He won the Youth World Championships here in 2011 with Lukasz Kaczmarek. “That was a wonderful event and I hope to repeat that result.”
The Polish pair had a smooth run up to the final four. They won their pool on Friday with three straight wins and their first knockout match against USA’s Christopher Long and Branden Clemens was another two setter (21-17 21-17).
In the late night game against Zhirkov and Firzov the Poles were never in any danger. Rudol finished off their first match point with a massive kill block.
Love the support “This is only the beginning”, Rudol said. They are both very outgoing players who love the support they get from the crowd. “My family and friends are all here, it’s great and a big help for us. We like it when the supporters are loud. We like to hear some noise when we are playing.”
The victory over Zhirkov and Firzov was twice as sweet. Kosiak: “They beat the other Polish team (Bryl and Kujawiak) in the second round. So we kind of took revenge for them.”
Kosiak and Rudol will take on Brazil's Guto Carvalhaes and Allison in the semifinal.
FIVB U21 World Championships Tournament Page
Twitter: @FIVBBVBU21
Facebook: FIVB - International Volleyball Federation
YouTube: FIVB Video