ód Despite a strong performance, the German volleyball team suffered their first defeats at the World Championships in the Netherlands and Poland. National coach Vital Heinen’s team suffered a 0:3 (23:25, 22:25, 23:25) defeat to defending champions Serbia in Lodz on Thursday. In the final group game on Friday (7:00 pm/Sportdeutschland.tv), the German Volleyball Association chooses Olympic champions USA, the duel against Canada on Saturday (4:00 pm) marking the end of the preliminary round. .

The top four teams in a group of six advance to the second round of the tournament. The German team, having won two at the start of the World Cup against Bulgaria (3:1) and Kazakhstan (3:0), are yet to win a medal at the World Cup.

DVV Butterflies lead after a great start

At the Atlas Arena in ód, the DVV Butterflies got off to a great start and even took the lead against the favorite Serbs. However, at the end of the first set, the opponent, coached by Italian Daniele Santarelli, showed his superior quality in the leading positions. A similar picture emerged in the second set: Germany held on for a long time, but with three consecutive points, Serbia eventually took a 2-0 lead.

It was a blow to the German team, which went down 3-0 early in the third set. Coach Heinen took a break and demanded: “Everyone must do their job.” Diagonal attacker Kimberly Druni raised hopes to make it 21:21, but the Olympic bronze medalist from Serbia was strong again with Tijana Boस्कोkovic excelling in the crunch. Time.