L'Ucraina si trova in un girone molto difficile per le prossime qualificazioni FIVB Road to Paris Volley. È una squadra forte, con molto talento, ma non è certo tra le favorite per conquistare uno dei due biglietti olimpici del torneo di Rio de Janeiro. Tuttavia, hanno Oleh Plotnytskyi, il loro capitano, un noto giocatore che può fare la differenza in ogni partita.
Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Oleh Plotnytskyi: Dobbiamo giocare ogni partita al 200%.
La stella ucraina del Perugia afferma che la squadra deve spingere fin dall'inizio della qualificazione olimpica
Pubblicato 01:21, 27 set 2023
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The 26-year-old star outside hitter of the Ukrainian national team and Italy’s Sir Susa Vim Perugia hopes for a positive outcome of the Pool A tournament in Rio from September 30 through October 8, where his side will compete against Cuba, Czechia, Germany, Iran, Italy, Qatar and hosts Brazil, but also keeps his feet firmly on the ground, well aware of the difficulty of this task at hand.
“It is the first time for us,” Plotnytskyi told Volleyball World. “For sure, it is the most difficult tournament: seven matches in nine days! It’s not just about technique; you have to be ready physically. I hope we will be. But we have a really difficult group as well, with the likes of Brazil, Italy, Cuba, Iran... All these are top teams, who also play in the VNL. It will be difficult for sure, but... we will see. We will do our best, but to be realistic, Brazil and Italy are the highest-level teams in the pool. So to win the ticket, I think we have to play every match at 200%. It is difficult, but surely we will fight. And if we play well, maybe at least we can come back with improved positions in the World Ranking.”
Showing the way
Ukraine’s most recent competition was the CEV European Championship in August and September. It left Plotnytskyi with mixed feelings, because the team started the tournament in Bulgaria with three consecutive defeats, but then put their act together to win the next three games and reach the quarterfinals before being knocked out by the strong team of Slovenia and stopped just short of their dream to reach the semifinals in Italy. Still, the 1.90m-tall striker said that if the right conclusions were drawn, that could help the team do better in Rio.
“We had a difficult start, but then the team showed that we are strong together. We can fight, we can come back fast and be like a team,” Plotnytskyi said. “We did not achieve the result that we expected. We wanted to go to the Final Four in Rome and I think the way we played in the last three matches we deserved it, but just in the last three matches. The first three were the reason we didn’t go to Rome. So at the Olympic qualifier, we have to start immediately. We have to start pushing, be aggressive and always be focused.”
Early into his competitive career, Oleh represented Ukraine in both beach and indoor volleyball. Together with his current national squad teammate Illia Kovalov, he earned silver at the 2014 FIVB U19 Beach Volleyball World Championship in Porto, in addition to a couple of continental bronzes the following year, at the CEV Beach Volleyball European Tour Masters in Biel/Bienne and at the CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championship in Larnaka. They even competed at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, where they finished ninth.
But, of course, Plotnytskyi dreams of competing at the big Olympics.
“I imagine the Olympic Games... It has to be something really special, even just winning the ticket and knowing that you would go there,” he said. “Then, you start thinking about how you are going to perform there. And it would be really special for us, Ukrainians, now in particular, when there is a war and we have to push even harder.”
Oleh’s indoor volleyball star was born at the 2016 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship in Bulgaria, where he arrived directly from Thessaloniki in neighbouring Greece with a fourth place at the U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship. He had an impressive performance in Plovdiv and led underdogs Ukraine to a sensational silver, making headlines with some miraculous long serving runs in the money time of key matches, which earned him the Most Valuable Player award, despite the fact that his team lost the final.
The following season, Plotnytskyi made his debut with the senior national team, helping Ukraine on the way to a CEV European League gold. Despite being one of the youngest players on the squad, he was soon elected to be the team captain.
Leading Ukraine as the team captain at the 2022 World Championship
"La squadra ha scelto me. Ok, voglio essere il capitano e quando abbiamo votato ho votato per me stesso", ha ammesso all'epoca. "Ma anche gli altri hanno votato per me. Credo che il motivo sia che sanno che posso dare loro molta energia emotiva".
Con Plotnytskyi in squadra, la nazionale ucraina ha continuato la sua ascesa, mentre lo stesso Oleh ha continuato a eccellere anche a livello individuale, raggiungendo la vetta di numerose classifiche statistiche, in particolare quella di miglior server al Campionato del Mondo maschile FIVB 2022.
Plotnytskyi in attack during the 2022 World Championship quarterfinal against Slovenia
Il giovane Oleh ha iniziato la sua carriera nel club ucraino Lokomotiv Kharkiv, ma subito dopo la vittoria del titolo nazionale nel 2017 e la vittoria del premio MVP della stagione da parte di Plotnytskyi, ha effettuato il suo primo trasferimento internazionale e nelle due stagioni successive ha militato nell'Italia Vero Volley Monza, raggiungendo la finale di CEV Challenge Cup nel 2019.
Nello stesso anno si trasferisce alla Sir Safety Conad Perugia, di cui difende ancora oggi i colori. Durante la sua permanenza a Perugia, Plotnytskyi ha vinto tre volte la Supercoppa Italiana (MVP nel 2023) e una volta la Coppa Italia. Soprattutto, è campione del mondo per club in carica nel 2022 e ha raggiunto per tre volte consecutive le semifinali della CEV Champions League, ma alla vigilia della prossima stagione di SuperLega Credem Banca, sogna ancora di conquistare il titolo di campione nazionale italiano, dopo essersi accontentato dell'argento nel 2021 e nel 2022.
"A Perugia l'obiettivo è sempre lo stesso: vincere tutto", ha detto Plotnytskyi. "Prima degli Europei, io e i miei compagni di squadra ucraini abbiamo messo su carta i nostri sogni o obiettivi principali. Io ho scritto prima i Giochi Olimpici e poi la vittoria del campionato italiano...".
