Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 15, 2016 – With a place in the quarterfinals guaranteed Poland will view their match against Cuba as a way to better their pool position on the final day of the preliminary round.
However, they will need to bounce back after suffering their first defeat of the tournament against Russia on Saturday, narrowly losing an epic five-setter to the defending champions. The side is looking for a first Olympic medal since their 1976 triumph. Interestingly enough, they were also world champions at the time, as the current team are.
Cuba have not had such a positive tournament, winning just one set against Russia before being crushed by the likes of Egypt, Iran and Argentina. There will be no quarterfinal for the group, the first time since 1972 that Cuba fails to make the knockout stages at the Olympics they have competed at. But they will be keen to leave Brazil with at least one win.
Poland have won three of the last five meetings between the two including their last match-up in Sofia at the 2012 World League finals. However Cuba have the advantage in overall victories, winning 11 of the 20 clashes.