Projekt and ZAKSA to open Poland Cup action on Tuesday

It is time for some men’s TAURON Puchar Polski quarterfinal action! Four direct-elimination matches to be played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, February 18 to 20, will determine the participants in the Final Four event of the 68^th edition of the Polish national cup at the TAURON Arena in Krakow on April 12 and 13, 2025.

• Watch the TAURON Puchar Polski on VBTV.

The first competition day will already offer the most interesting clash among the four. On Tuesday at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC), PGE Projekt Warsaw will welcome ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle to the COS Torwar in the Polish capital. Projekt qualified for the Poland Cup competition as the second-placed team in the Polish PlusLiga standings after the first half of the regular season. Now they are running third as the team with the most wins so far this season, on 57 points and a 21-4 win-loss record. They have advanced to the Poland Cup semifinals four times in the club’s history, but they have never reached the trophy match. ZAKSA were fifth in the PlusLiga at the cut-off. Now they are in fourth place on 52 and 18-6. The club from Kedzierzyn-Kozle has won the national cup a record-breaking 10 times. Projekt have not lost to ZAKSA since April 2023. They shut out the mighty opponent in both of their previous encounters this season.

Wednesday’s programme will offer two quarterfinals, starting with ChKS Chelm vs Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie at 17:30 (16:30). Hosts ChKS Chelm are one of the two non-PlusLiga teams that qualified for the Puchar Polski quarterfinals. This was the second time they reached this far in the competition, after doing so two seasons ago too. They are still undefeated this season. In addition to having won their three cup qualification matches, they lead Poland’s second-division 1.Liga standings convincingly on 61 and 21-0. The MOSiR hall in Chelm will have the opportunity to host defending trophy holders Aluron, whose stellar line-up makes them the favourites to win this match. The team from Zawiercie was third in the table, when the quarterfinal spot was booked. As they are starting their quest for the club’s second national cup crown in history, Aluron are running second in the PlusLiga on 58 and 19-6.

In Wednesday’s late match, BOGDANKA LUK Lublin will entertain Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa at the Globus hall at 20:30 (19:30). Fourth in the PlusLiga after the first half of the regular season, Lublin now stand in fifth place on 51 and 17-8. Last year they reached the Poland Cup semifinals for the first time in the club’s history. Norwid, on the other hand, are set to make their debut in the Puchar Polski quarterfinals. They picked up the last available vacancy for the PlusLiga teams by ranking sixth in the first half of the regular season. Now they are down to eighth on 37 and 13-12. When they hosted BOGDANKA for a PlusLiga encounter in November, Norwid beat them in four sets. Interestingly, the two teams will meet twice this week. On Sunday, Lublin will entertain Norwid again for a Plus Liga fixture.

The quarterfinal stage of Puchar Polski will close on Thursday with WKS Czarni Radom welcoming reigning national champions Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj to the RCS hall at 20:30 (19:30). Czarni are the other second-division team that qualified for the quarterfinals. However, they are one of the four quarterfinalists that boast a national cup trophy in their showcase, as the club from Radom won the Puchar Polski back in 1999. They also reached the cup final in 1987. Now they occupy ninth place in the 1.Liga table on 32 and 10-11. Jastrzebski Wegiel qualified for the cup quarterfinals as PlusLiga leaders and they still top the standings, on 63 and 20-5. They have reached the Poland Cup final as many as nine times, but have won it only once, back in 2010. Czarni have not been able to win a match or even a set against Jastrzebski Wegiel since 2020. In the last seven PlusLiga encounters between the two clubs, the volleyballers from Jastrzebie-Zdroj beat their opponents in straight sets, most recently in February last year.

TAURON Puchar Polski 2025 quarterfinals:
Feb 18, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Feb 19, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): ChKS Chelm v Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie
Feb 19, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa
Feb 20, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): WKS Czarni Radom v Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj

PlusLiga 2024-2025 26th leg:
Feb 21, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow v Trefl Gdansk
Feb 22, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v Slepsk Malow Suwalki
Feb 22, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin
Feb 22, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): GKS Katowice v Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski
Feb 23, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Feb 23, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Feb 23, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa
Feb 24, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow

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