Sport “Can be Pyrrhic victory”
The painful success of the German volleyball players
Status: 18.08.2023 | Reading time: 2 minutes
Germany’s Hanna Orthmann (left) had to leave the field injured early on
Source: dpa/Marius Becker
The German volleyball players start in Düsseldorf with a clear victory in the home European championship. However, success comes at a cost. The team’s key player injures her knee.
The German volleyball players started the European Championships at home with a commanding victory. The team of national coach Vital Heynen beat Greece 3:0 (25:19, 25:21, 29:27) in the Castello Düsseldorf on Thursday evening. In front of 1256 spectators, however, the injury-related replacement of key player Hanna Orthmann put a damper on the game.
“It can be a Pyrrhic victory. Maybe today we lost more than we gained,” said the Belgian. Orthmann injured his knee in the first set. With her powerful shots, the 24-year-old is often the German player with the best points. His players looked a little more optimistic. “You’re a little better now. It was a shock at first,” said captain Lena Stigrot. Orthmann himself also gave the all-clear. It was just a precautionary measure. Further examinations on Friday should provide definitive information about the injury.
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There was no sign of nervousness among the Germans at the beginning. The team quickly led 7:3 in the first set. Every point was greeted with loud cheers from the Düsseldorf audience. In the second round, the hosts quickly made it 4-0, but the set remained balanced for a long time. But whenever the 31st in the world rankings approached, the German team was able to quickly pull away again. Outside attacker Lina Alsmeier and Marie Schölzel provided important points.
Now it’s against Azerbaijan
“We are a team. If one goes out, someone else jumps in,” said Heynen between sentences two and three about Orthmann’s failure. In the third round, the Greeks were initially just ahead. The German team struggled in defense. The Belgian coach made his dissatisfaction clear during a time-out.
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At 24:21 the set seemed lost, but the DVV team fought back with a block from Stigrot and two points from Camilla Weitzel. In the end, a Greek ball out of bounds provided the necessary two-point lead. In the second preliminary round match, Germany meets Azerbaijan on Saturday (8 p.m. / Sportdeutschland.tv). The four best teams from the group of six advance to the round of 16 in Belgium.