Italy's weakest performance will be severely punished

Three games, three wins: so far, Italy's volleyball women around Raphaela Folie have been among the creme de la creme in Tokyo. Of all things, the first defeat came in a duel with the weak Chinese women - who traveled to Tokyo as reigning Olympic champions. And this was very clear. The Azzurre had to admit defeat in three sets with 21:25, 20:25, 24:26. With a win, Italy could have secured first place in Group B on Saturday and thus an ideal position for the quarter-finals. But nothing came of it. While Davide Mazzanti's team had little to no success, China - who no longer have a chance of reaching the quarter-finals - showed a strong performance despite the loss of star player Ting Zhu (wrist injury) and ultimately deservedly won 3-0. Small consolation for Italy: they already have a place in the quarter-finals. Foil is not used Raphaela Folie was unable to take part on Saturday. She was the only one of the 12 players who was not allowed on the floor for a single point. The Missian woman wouldn't have been able to do much anyway, because all the players in Italy played below their potential. This included star attacker Paola Egonu, who was the player with the highest points with 18 points, but only used 14 of 35 attacks - that's below average for the Conegliano ace. Despite everything, Italy already has their ticket to the quarter-finals in their pocket. By winning the group, the Azzurre would avoid unpleasant opponents there. The last chance for this is on Monday at 4.45 a.m. (CEST): Then the last preliminary round game against the USA is on the program. If Italy wins 3-0 or 3-1, the group victory is perfect.

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Italy's weakest performance will be severely punished

Italy's volleyball players have cut a good figure so far at the Olympic tournament. Saturday was an exception.

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