Resistencia and Corrientes, Argentina, August 22, 2015 - The gold medal of FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship will land onto new shoulders as host team Argentina and Poland qualified for the decisive match on Sunday, a stage they reached for the first time in their history. The home squad downed Russia in a nerve-wrecking tie-breaker, while Poland once again defeated Iran.
After a high-temperature clash, Poland entered the final match for the very first time at U19 age group. Last edition’s bronze medalists improved their campaign with a thrilling 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22) over Iran. Captain Rasoul Aghchehli uncorked a match-high 22 points for Iran, but he was the only one on the entire team to achieve double digits. Poland, unable to damage with their weapon of choice - their service, displayed a wider range of attacking options to made the difference, as opposite Jakub Ziobrowski (18 points) and outside hitters Tomasz Fornal (13) and Bartosz Kwolek (12) outscored Rasoul’s production.
In front of 4’000 delirious fans in Resistencia, Argentina wrote a new page on their books as the local team prevailed over Russia 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-11) to also reach the gold medal game for the first time ever in this age group. The outcome of the game can be found in Russia’s performance - the defending champions had another tremendous night of Dmitry Yakovlev, but his massive number of 31 kills wasn’t enough to compensate for the 50 unforced errors of the team. Nevertheless, Argentina emerged victorious due to a steady temper, a scorching spirit and the boost of all the fans in Resistencia.
As part of the plot to decide places from fifth to eighth, Italy moved past China 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 26-24) and avenged the 3-2 delivered by the Asians during pool play. Diego Cantagalli placed above all scorers with a 15-point game and a rock-solid 78% on spiking. Later, USA and Brazil struggled through five sets, with the latter triumphant 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 15-25, 15-10) with a superb output by Kaio Ribeiro, with 23 points. Italians and Brazilians will collide for the highest place outside the Final Four, while China and USA will decide the 7th slot.
Going down through the final ranking, Cuban Miguel López pulled out another legendary performance as he bagged 35 points to bring his side closer to the 9th place, in a remarkable comeback over Bulgaria 3-2 (16-25, 21-25, 25-20, 28-26, 15-12). The Caribbean will now face Turkey, after they bounced back to rule out France 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-12), for the best possible ending for the teams in Corrientes.
For places 13-16, Mexico made a huge turnaround and defeated Chile 3-2 (23-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-14, 15-12), while Germany planted bigger margins over Japan 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 28-26). Both winners will decide 13th place on Sunday.
Wrapping up the action for places 17 to 20, Belgium climbed back twice to defeat Puerto Rico 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17, 15-7) and top Pool F, while Chinese Taipei seized the 18th spot after a 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-23) over winless Egypt.
Top Scorer by Day27 - Jakub Ziobrowski of Poland vs Bulgaria on August 14
24 - Maximilian Auste of Germany v Japan on August 15
23 - Yen Chen Fu of Chinese Taipei v Bulgaria on August 16
29 - Ridel Garay Nava of Mexico v Cuba on August 17
27 - Yu Yuantai of China v Italy on August 18
27 - Dmitry Yakovlev of Russia v Bulgaria on August 19
25 - Rasoul Aghchehli of Iran v Italy on August 21
35 - Miguel Ángel López of Cuba v Bulgaria on August 22
Top Scoring Performances35 - Miguel Ángel López of Cuba v Bulgaria on August 22
31 - Dmitry Yakovlev of Russia v Argentina on August 22
29 - Ridel Garay Nava of Mexico v Cuba on August 17
27 - Yu Yuantai of China v Italy on August 18
27 - Jakub Ziobrowski of Poland vs Bulgaria on August 14
Top Individual Serving Performances10 - Bartosz Kwolek of Poland v China on August 21
7 - Miguel Ángel López of Cuba v Bulgaria on August 22
7 - Micah Ma’a of USA v Belgium on August 15
7 - Dmitry Yakovlev of Russia v Germany on August 18
6 - Bartosz Kwolek of Poland v Chile on August 17
Top Team Serving Performances13 - Poland v Iran on August 15
13 - USA v France on August 17
13 - USA v Mexico on August 19
12 - Russia v Germany on August 18
12 - Poland v China on August 21
Top Individual Blocking Performances8 - Mathieu Manusauaki of France v Italy on August 19
7 - Gianluca Galassi of Italy v Cuba on August 14
7 - Scott Stadick of USA v Russia on August 21
7 - Abdullah Cam of Turkey v France on August 22
7 - Dawid Woch of Poland v Japan on August 19
Top Team Blocking Performances21 - Italy v France on August 19
21 - Chinese Taipei v Puerto Rico on August 19
20 - Germany v Japan on August 15
20 - Russia v Bulgaria on August 19
19 - Brazil v USA on August 22
Highest Scoring Sets34-32 Puerto Rico v Chinese Taipei (2nd set) on August 19
33-31 Russia v Germany (3rd Set) on August 18
29-27 Argentina v France (4th Set) on August 14
29-27 Germany v Puerto Rico (2nd set) on August 16
28-26 Bulgaria v Iran (3rd set) on August 18
Highest Scoring Matches233 - Chinese Taipei d Puerto Rico 3-2 (24-26, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17, 16-14) on August 19
224 - Argentina d France 3-2 (16-25, 25-23, 25-27, 29-27, 15-12) on August 14
216 - Chile d Chinese Taipei 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 16-14) on August 14
215 - Germany d Japan 3-2 (23-25, 26-24, 26-24, 18-25, 15-9) on August 15
214 - China d Italy 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 25-15, 16-14) on August 18