Regatas' Arena in Corrientes welcomed a fabulous clash between Russia and Brazil
Resistencia and Corrientes, Argentina, August 15, 2015 - As pool play advances, FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship keeps delivering marvelous matches and having Argentinean fans on their toes. Even with the local team resting, people filled the stands in Resistencia and Corrientes to witness USA, Italy, Brazil and Poland earn their second win. Bulgaria, Turkey, Cuba and Germany also prevailed.
The most remarkable result on Pool A was the flawless display from Turkey. After falling in the opening match, the team in red made use of their “A” game and left France speechless with a super-solid 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-12) victory. Among many high points, Abdullah Cam and Adis Lagumdzija collected 17 and 12 points, while captain Muzaffer Yonet mastered the art of setting.
However, that group is currently led by the USA. In a tremendous contest that made people from Resistencia go absolutely crazy, the Americans and Belgium fought with heart and soul for five sets, until USA won 3-2 (25-20, 17-25, 25-18, 21-25, 19-17) for their second victory. Torey DeFalco and Jordan Ewert added 22 points apiece and Micah Ma’a joined with 13, including a tournament-high of 7 service aces.
Italy progressed to 2-0 with a well-earned 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18) victory over a battling side of Mexico, and now they top Pool B with perfect numbers. Roberto Cominetti finished with 16 points for the winning side, many of them to break the opponent in the fourth set. Gianluca Galassi added 15 tallies and second setter Riccardo Sbertoli also proved to be vital.
A big shock came when last World Championship silver medalists China began their campaign in the competition with a loss on the hands of Cuba. The Caribbean side prevailed 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 18-25, 25-22) and celebrated for the first time in Argentinean soil, with Miguel Ángel López as the best in Cuba, with 20 kills including the final point.
In Corrientes, Bulgaria smashed Chile in a comfortable three-set victory (25-19, 25-15, 25-22). With great authority, the Europeans imposed their power to bend the South Americans, using the scoring abilities of Radoslav Parapunov (16) and Plamen Shekerdhiev (14). Bulgaria also served really well and put Chilean reception in trouble from the beginning.
Poland built a great second victory against Iran after a negative first set (20-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-15) based on an outstanding service performance of Tomasz Fornal and Dawid Woch, together with a great team chemistry. The polish outside-hitter couple of Fornal (18 points) and Kwolek (14) led Poland to a very important result.
Later on, Japan and Germany gave an authentic exhibition of defence and blocks, and finally the Europeans brought down the Asians in an uneven tie break (25-23, 24-26, 24-26, 25-18, 9-15). Maximilian Auste led the German scoring with 24 points, while the team as a whole piled up 20 direct kill-blocks.
Last but not least, Brazil upset defending champions Russia in front of more than 4.000 spectators in Regatas’ Arena. The South American squad took an almost lost set to wrap up a four-set victory (22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-23) and celebrate for the second time. Brazilian Leonardo Almeida and Russia’s Ivan Polianskii guided their teams with 17 points.
Top Scorer by Day27 - Jakub Ziobrowski of Poland vs Bulgaria on August 14
24 - Maximilian Auste of Germany v Japan on August 15
Top Scoring Performances27 - Jakub Ziobrowski of Poland vs Bulgaria on August 14
26 - Joachim Panou of France v Argentina on August 14
24 - Maximilian Auste of Germany v Japan on August 15
23 - Abdullah Cam of Turkey vs USA on August 14
22 - Gabriel García of Puerto Rico v Japan on August 14
Top Individual Serving Performances7 - Micah Ma’a of USA v Belgium on August 15
5 - Dawid Woch of Poland v Iran on August 15
5 - Tomasz Fornal of Poland v Iran on August 15
5 - Esteban Villarreal Soltau of Chile v Chinese Taipei on August 14
5 - Ridel Garay Nava of Mexico v Egypt on August 14
Top Team Serving Performances13 - Poland v Iran on August 15
11 - Poland v Bulgaria on August 14
11 - USA v Belgium on August 15
9 - Bulgaria v Chile on August 15
8 - Mexico v Egypt on August 14
Top Individual Blocking Performances7 - Gianluca Galassi of Italy v Cuba on August 14
7 - Barthélémy Chinenyeze of France v Argentina on August 14
6 - Scott Stadick of USA v Turkey on August 14
6 - Scott Stadick of USA v Belgium on August 15
5 - Maximilian Auste of Germany v Japan on August 15
Top Team Blocking Performances20 - Germany v Japan on August 15
17 - Chile v Chinese Taipei on August 14
15 - Italy v Cuba on August 14
15 - Argentina v France on August 14
15 - France v Argentina on August 14
Highest Scoring Sets29-27 Argentina v France (4th Set) on August 14
27-25 France v Argentina (3rd Set) on August 14
26-24 USA v Turkey (3rd set) on August 14
26-24 Poland v Iran (2nd set) on August 15
26-24 Germany v Japan (2nd set) on August 15
Highest Scoring Matches224 - 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
212 - USA d Belgium 3-2 (25-20, 17-25, 25-18, 21-25, 19-17) on August 15
211 - USA d Turkey 3-2 (25-18, 18-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-13) on August 14