Radoslav Parapunov scored his first points in the Polish PlusLiga. The opposite entered in the fourth set during the home match of PGE GiEK Skra Bełchatów against Steel Nieruchomości Hemarpol Norwid. The match was won by the guests with 1:3 (24:26, 29:25, 25:21, 21:25), andthe Bulgarian scored 8 points (1 ace). Parapunov was put into play with the score at 4:5 in the fourth set, being sought 18 times by the setter, and was blocked 3 times. Rado also recorded an ace at 16:13 and was generally more effective than the main opposite, Amin Esmaeilnezhad, who scored 10 points in three sets.
The MVP of the match was the Czech opposite Patrik Indra with a colossal 32 points. Indra, a former player for Chaumont under Silvano Prandi, became the most valuable player for the 6th time, ranking first in this category, as well as in points (350).
The match was of great importance for the hosts, as only in the 15th round of PlusLiga was the last team determined to play in the quarterfinals of the TAURON Polish Cup. This is Steel Nieruchomości Hemarpol Norwid Częstochowa, which will debut at this stage of the tournament. It so happened thatthe match between PGE GiEK Skra Bełchatów and Steel Nieruchomości Hemarpol Norwid had to determine the last quarterfinalist in the TAURON Polish Cup. Let's recall that the six leading teams in the middle of the regular season earned the right to participate. Earlier, Jastrzębski Węgiel, PGE Projekt Warszawa, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, secured their qualification.BOGDANKA LUK Lublin, where Alex Grozdanov playsand ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle. The team from Częstochowa could have secured sixth position in the previous match, but unexpectedly lost 2:3 to Trefl Gdańsk.
Before the 15th round, Steel Nieruchomości Hemarpol Norwid had a two-point lead over the team from Bełchatów, which meant that one point was enough for them. Despite the absence of Quinn Isaacson, the main setter, who suffered a hand injury and will be out for several weeks, the team from Częstochowa quickly dispelled doubts by winning two sets, and the entire match 3:1. For Norwid, this will be their first participation in the 1/4 finals of the TAURON Polish Cup. So far, they had reached the furthest in the 2021/2022 season, when as a first division team, they reached the 1/16 finals.
The draw for the quarterfinal phase is scheduled for December 10. Steel Nieruchomości Hemarpol Norwid will play one of the four leading teams that will be seeded - Jastrzębski Węgiel, PGE Projekt, defending champion Aluron CMC Warta and BOGDANKA LUK. The lineup will be completed by two teams from lower divisions, who have two more rounds to play.
The final tournament for the TAURON Polish Cup will take place on April 12 and 13 at the TAURON Arena in Krakow. In the last edition, the semifinals and final were watched by over 13,000 fans.
