The clash was eagerly anticipated, largely because of the dynamic way in which Poland have approached the tournament.
Prior to tonight, they have attacked teams from the start. But when they have not got it right - such as against Australia and Italy in the group stages - they have been poor, and so it proved tonight as Russia did to them what they like to do to others.
Their serving was solid, their reception accurate, their sitting quick and their hitting unstoppable. It was rare for a point to last longer than four strokes all night and fortunately for Russia, they were usually the ones playing the final shot.
They were able to stifle the two-pronged Polish attack of Zbigniew Bartman and Bartosz Kurek well enough so that they returned just 22 points between them.
The serving of Russia was also superior, as they won seven points with unreturned deliveries compared to one from Poland.
Maxim Mikhaylov was their top-scoring player with 13 - one less than Bartman, although it did not matter as he enjoyed far better support from his team-mates.
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