An Olympic afternoon with a high emotional content at the South Paris Arena in Paris: in the second match of the day dedicated to the Quarter Finals of the Olympic Games, Italy won in the tie-break against Japan, canceling out 4 match balls for the Japanese (including 1 in the tie-break -break and 3 at the end of the third half) and flies to the Semifinal where on Wednesday 7 August they will meet France, who also won a comeback in the fifth set against Germany.
The key moment of the match was undoubtedly at the end of the third set, when the Azzurri, down 2-0 in the score and 21-24 in the third set, found the strength to reopen the match thanks to a serving turn by Captain Giannelli until the 25-24 and then closing at 27-25. The fourth (23-21, 24-24, 26-24) and fifth sets (from 14-13 to 14-15, up to the final 17-15) were also hard fought and full of reversals.
Top Scorer of the match is the Sir Susa Vim Perugia spiker Ishikawa with 32 points, while among the Azzurri Michieletto (Itas Trentino) stands out with 24.
It will be the eighth time that the national team will take part in an Olympic semi-final, out of 13 editions played. From 1996 to today, Italy has always reached the semi-finals with the exception of the last edition played in Tokyo.
The Italian national team’s group stage calendar
Saturday 27 July 2024
Italy – Brazil 3-1 (25-23, 27-25, 18-25, 25-21)
Tuesday 30 July 2024
Italy – Egypt 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20)
Saturday 3 August 2024
Italy – Poland 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 24-26, 25-20)
The calendar of the direct elimination phase
Monday 5 August 2024
Quarter Finals, Italy – Japan 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 27-25, 26-24, 17-15)
Wednesday 7 August 2024, Semi-finals
Italy – France
Poland – United States/Brazil
Times to be defined. Race slots: 4.00 pm and 8.00 pm
Friday 9 August 2024
Bronze medal final at 4.00pm
Saturday 10 August 2024
Gold medal final at 1.00pm
