Russian Libero Evgenii Andreev regrets of a failing play against Brazil. However his team got masterly comeback against Russia.
Tijuana, Mexico, September 19, 2015 - Russia and Argentina will play for the gold medal at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship on Sunday at the Baja California High Performance Centre.
Russia beat Brazil in four sets, while Argentina claimed the first ticket after a perfect second round tournament that included victories in three sets, the last one over China, a team that was among the favorites to repeat their appearance at the finals. China will match Brazil for the bronze medal.
Argentina 3-0 China (semifinal)Argentina became the first team to qualify to the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship after beating China, one of the top favorites in three sets. The team coached by Alejandro Grossi won by scores of 25-22, 26-24 and 25-14 in one hour and 17 minutes of game at the High Performance Centre.
Brian Melgarejo topped the Argentinian team with a total of 12 points, while Nicolas Lazo and Bruno Lima scored 11 apiece. Captain Gaston Fernandez contributed with 10 more points, including 2 aces for the Argentinian victory.
Runtao Xia finished as top scorer for China with 12 points, while Weiqin Lin tallied 8. Libin Liu finished with 7 for China that failed with their service.
Russia 3-1 Brazil (semifinal)Russia defeated Brazil in four sets to become the second finalists. The team coached by Mikhail Nikolaev won by scores of 25-23, 25-21, 18-25 and 25-21 and also continue with their unbeaten streak of seven wins in a row.
Denis Bogdan scored 24 points for Russia (8 aces), while Dmitry Volkov registered 9. For Brazil, Caio Oliveira finished with 23 points and Douglas Souza scored 7 points.
Russia dominated with the reception by leading 46-29 and finished with a difference of 9-4 in services and 6-5 in blocks. The Russian team have given up only two sets in seven matches, one against Canada and one against Brazil. Both in the second round of the competition.
Italy 3-1 Slovenia (for places 5 to 8)Italy will contend for the fifth place of the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship after beating Slovenia. The Italian team needed four sets to overcome their opponents by scores of 25-20, 25-16, 19-25 and 25-20.
Andrea Argenta scored 28 points while Alberto Polo finished with 17. Storn Toncek was the best scorer for the Slovenian team who tallied 26 points. Jure Okroglic also had a double digit afternoon with 15 points. Italians were superior in block points by finishing 12-7, six of those points were marked by Alberto Polo.
Turkey 3-0 Canada (for places 5 to 8)Turkey defeated Canada in straight sets as actions of the first match of the classification round for places 5 to 8 began on Saturday at the Baja California High Performance Centre. Scores were 25-23, 26-24 and 25-16.
Cansin Ogdan Enaboifo, who was one of the best weapons of the Turkish team had to left the match due to a groin injury just at the beginning. He left the game with 3 points. The top scorer for Turkey was Yasin Aydin, with 17 points and 2 aces. Mehmet Hacioglu and Abdullah Cam closed with 8 points apiece. For Canada, Lucas Coleman topped with 8 and Ryan Nickifor scored 7.
Japan 3-1 Egypt (for places 9 to 16)Despite Egypt’s reaction and amazing performance in the second set, Japan prevailed over the African representatives in four sets in Mexicali. Japan won 3-1 (25-18, 27-29, 25-21, 25-20) with Taishi Onodera as their top scorer with 17 points, while Ataru Kumakura scored 15.
Issei Otake also claimed the double digit, after totalizing 14 points. Saad Ahmed registered 16 points for Egypt and he was followed by Abouelsoud Eid with 11, as well as Mohammed Abdelmohsen Seliman. Abdelrahman Abouelella scored 10 for the Egyptian team that surrendered 30 points by mistake.
Cuba 3-0 Mexico (for places 9 to 16)Cuba overcame Mexico in straight sets (25-19, 25-23 and 25-22) after 77 minutes of game to look for the thirteenth place. The team coached by Rodolfo Luis Sanchez has Osmany Uriarte as their best player with 16 points, while Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan closed with 13.
Luis Sosa also registered double digit with a total of 12 points and Miguel Gutierrez scored 11. Ridl Alexis Garay Nava scored 16 points for the hosts, followed by captain Enrique Ugalde, who closed with 10 and aced twice.
France 3-1 USA (for places 9 to 16)France had no problem to win over the United States in the classification round for places 9 to 16. The team coached by Jocelyn Trillon won 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 16-25, 25-21) with a total of 24 points by jean Patry. Timothée Carly was the second best scorer for France with 15 points, while Médéric Henry scored 10 for France, with six blocking points. France overcame USA 11-7 in blocking performance.
Jeffrey Jendryk Li scored 15 for the Americans, followed by John Hatch, who tallied 11. Also Richard Gevis, Jr. registered double digits for the American team after scoring 10.
Poland 3-1 Iran (for places 9 to 16)Poland defeated Iran in the final match of the classification round for places 9-12 at the Sports City State Auditorium.
Aleksander Sliwka commanded the Polish attack by totalizing 32 points while Bartlomiej Lemanski scored 14, the same as Sahan Allah Verdian for Iran.
Rahman Taghi Zadeh finished with 12 points as second best scorer of the Iranian team, while Amin Esmaelinezhad finished with 10 and 3 aces.
In the end, Polish blocking game marked the difference by finishing 16-6 with a good performance by Rafal Szymura and Bartlomiej Mordyl.