Poland smothers Turkey, forges semis clash with Italy

World No. 1 Poland made short work of Turkey, 25-15, 25-22, 25-19, to storm into the Final Four of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Poland, unbeaten in five games, needed just 69 minutes to eliminate world No. 14 Turkey and set up a blockbuster semifinal clash against world No. 2 and reigning champion Italy.

It will be an early rematch for the volleyball superpowers after Italy defeated Poland at home in the 2022 World Championship, co-hosted by Poland and Slovenia.

Italy had little trouble in its own quarterfinal, dispatching world No. 15 Belgium, 25-13, 25-18, 25-18.

Completing the stacked Final Four will be the winners of the remaining quarterfinals: world No. 4 USA vs. No. 11 Bulgaria, and No. 13 Czechia vs. No. 16 Iran, both slated for Thursday.

Super spiker Wilfredo Leon led Poland with 13 points on nine kills, three blocks, and an ace, while middle blocker and 2025 VNL MVP Jakub Kochanowski and team captain Bartosz Kurek added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Kamil Semeniuk and Norbert Huber contributed nine points each, with playmaker Marcin Komenda delivering 27 sets for Pool B top-seed Poland, which is aiming for redemption after winning the VNL last month in China.

Poland trailed only once in the entire match, 0-1 in the second set, as it displayed a methodical performance to strengthen its title bid.

“I’m happy for this win. Not every day you can win 3-0, especially against Turkey, which has been playing very well, so I’m happy that we are moving to the next step. We came here for it, and we’re ready for the next game [against Italy],” said Leon, who missed the 2022 edition at home.

Adis Lagumdzija was the lone double-digit scorer for Turkey, which swept Pool G and defeated the Netherlands in the Round of 16 to finish in the Top 8, improving on its 11th-place finish in 2022.

Earlier, Italy avenged its preliminary-round loss to Belgium, 23-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-13, behind contributions from Roberto Russo, Alessandro Michieletto, and Mattia Bottolo, who scored 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively.

Captain setter Simone Giannelli provided 30 sets for the Italians as they moved closer to completing a second consecutive title run in Manila, the largest edition in World Championship history with 32 teams.