“We are not leaving” — Andrei Puțuntica

🏓 🇲🇩 “We are not leaving!” — Andrei Puțuntica — will without a doubt become a meme, and will remain a symbol of the national team's character and maturity. That heartfelt phrase will surely also stay in the memory of the Moldovan supporters who travelled this road together with our national side.

But let us hear what the team's head coach, Igor Ni, has to say about the run our athletes had at the 2026 World Championships.

This World Championship was, and is, without doubt the most emotional I have known. From the very first moments — from the moment we stepped off the plane — I felt that a serious challenge was waiting for us.

The start was not easy. On arrival the team ran into organisational difficulties: nobody met us, checking in took a long time, and the logistics demanded that we adapt quickly.

In that situation we want to give particular thanks to our compatriot Vitalie Stratan, who travelled several hours to help us, met us and gave us his support, and made it possible for us to rest before the main competition. Gestures like that mean a great deal to all of us.

In general the tournament put us in a position of having to adapt not only to our opponents but to certain organisational conditions: limited resources for training (we were given only 6 balls per team for the whole preparation) and no properly structured system for moving between venues. Checking in alone took around 7 hours. But it is in moments like these that a team learns to be united, focused and strong.

In sporting terms the team was well prepared. We had a clear game plan for every opponent, but carrying it out required one essential thing — complete trust in me as a coach.

Vladislav Ursu and Andrei Puțuntică showed a high level of physical and psychological readiness — confidence, consistency and determination in every match. Denis Țerna brought the team steadiness and belief — a player capable of causing any opponent problems.

We began the competition with two important wins:

✔ against Chile (3:1) — an intense match in which everyone took responsibility;

✔ against Tahiti (3:0) — total control and a disciplined execution of the game plan.

The match against Poland (2:3) became an important test. We were very close to winning. Vlad showed the level of a player in the world's top hundred — speed, aggression and clarity in his decisions. He gave 150%. Andrei was close in the decisive moments, and Denis gave a solid account of himself against a top opponent. It turned into a tense match against a player from the German first Bundesliga, keeping both our team and our opponents in suspense. The chances were there, but small inaccuracies on the return and slightly less aggression in attack gave the Poles more openings. That match confirmed that we are not only close to the level of the elite teams but part of a community of top athletes.

The decisive moment was the tie against Greece, for a place in the main draw. Here the team showed its true character. Vlad started excellently and took the first point. Andrei played one of the best matches of the tournament against Gionis Panagiotis — a mature, intelligent and courageous performance. Denis, in the third match, came very close to winning — he was ahead of his opponent, but at the decisive moment literally a single step was missing. At 2:2 and 10:8 he did not take a time-out, he hurried — and that proved decisive. Even so, he is a great competitor: he works, he is growing, and the team believes in him. Unfortunately Vlad could not beat Gionis — tiredness told, along with the long rallies and the particular demands of playing a defender.

In the end everything came down to the last match. Against the second Greek player Andrei had an unfavourable record — he had never beaten him. My job was to support him as much as I could psychologically, to keep him focused and in a positive frame of mind. And Andrei rose to it remarkably. He played aggressively, varied his serves intelligently and attacked his opponent's weak zones. Control of the emotions, clarity of action, confidence and an enormous will to win — all of it brought us the victory and a place in the main draw.

👉 The final result — a 3:2 win and a historic qualification into the top 32 teams in the world.

This result is no accident. It is the result of constant work, of discipline and of the unity of the team.

What matters is understanding this: forming athletes like these takes years — decades, even — of systematic work, financial support and proper development. Results like this can only be achieved through sustained work from a very young age. That is why we should follow the example of the top teams, where young athletes gather valuable competitive experience as early as possible.

This championship is not merely a competition — it is a road full of challenges, of emotion and of real team strength.

The World Championship shows that the Republic of Moldova can compete on equal terms with the top teams in the world.

For us this is not an end. It is the beginning of a new road. We are not leaving! The story continues. 🇲🇩 🔥