Resistencia, Argentina, August 22, 2015 - After a high-temperature clash, Poland entered the final match for the very first time at FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in Argentina. Last edition’s bronze medalists already improved their final ranking with a thrilling 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22) over Iran, at the first semifinal game in Resistencia.
Captain Rasoul Aghchehli uncorked a match-high 22 points for Iran, but he was nearly alone on the scoring quest, as the only one on the entire team to achieve double digits. Dangerous Amirhossein Esfandiar nailed 4 blocks, but he couldn’t score via attack and he just reached 6 total points.
Poland was unable to damage with their weapon of choice - their service, so they had to display their best on counterattack to break the Iranian resistance. The wider range of options on attack made the difference in the end, as opposite Jakub Ziobrowski (18 points) and outside hitters Tomasz Fornal (13) and Bartosz Kwolek (12) outscored Rasoul’s production.
In this age group, Poland only had a couple of bronze medals until now, earned in Mexico 2013 and Saudi Arabia 1999. They did won the world crown on U21, in 2003 and 1997, but now they are up for a new record on their list.