L'Argentina ha conquistato l'ultimo posto libero nelle semifinali del Campionato del Mondo U21 di pallavolo maschile FIVB 2023 in Bahrain vincendo il duello diretto con il Brasile per il secondo posto nella Pool F a Manama giovedì. Affronteranno l'Iran in una delle semifinali di sabato. Nell'altra l'Italia affronterà la Bulgaria.

• Watch the Men's U21 World Championship live on the Volleyball World YouTube channel

Pool E

La Polonia si è assicurata di concludere la Pool E su una nota positiva, con la sua prima vittoria. I campioni del mondo giovanile di due anni fa hanno sconfitto la Thailandia con un convincente 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-18), conquistando il terzo posto nella classifica finale della pool e lasciando gli asiatici senza vittorie in fondo alla classifica. Entrambe le squadre passeranno alle semifinali del secondo girone, che distribuirà i posti dal quinto all'ottavo nella classifica finale del Campionato del Mondo. L'opposto polacco Aliaksei Nasevich ha realizzato quattro ace per un massimo di 18 punti. Piotr Sliwka e il capitano Jakub Olszewski hanno firmato con 10 punti ciascuno. Da parte thailandese, Kittipong Sangsak e Jakkrit Thanomnoi hanno realizzato rispettivamente 12 e 11 punti.

Iran topped the Pool E final standings unbeaten and handed Bulgaria their first defeat of the tournament. In the last match of the pool, the bronze medallists of the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship managed a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23) victory over the silver medallists of the youth event. Both teams, however, will continue to the semifinals in quest of more hardware. Iran’s better blocking (14 stuffs against seven) was key to their success on Thursday. Five of their kill blocks were authored by opposite Amir Mohammad Golzadeh within a total tally of 21 points. Mobin Nasri Mastanabad, on the other hand, produced five aces towards a match tally of 16 points. Bulgarian captain Aleksandar Nikolov did one better. With six aces towards a match-high 23 points, the rising star was the best scorer of the game.

Pool F

In a hard-fought five-set battle, Italy, who had already secured their spot among the semifinalists, celebrated a 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 16-25, 15-9) victory over Belgium, who had already lost their chances of making it to the best four. With this result, the defending U21 world champions topped the final Pool F standings unbeaten and left the winless Belgians bottom fourth. Belgium will move on to the race for the distribution of the places from fifth to eighth. While they did better than Italy in offence and in serving, it was the blocking and the unforced errors that tilted the outcome Italy’s way. Belgium’s Basil Dermaux was on fire to emerge as by far the best scorer of the match with 32 points, including two aces and a block. Belgian captain Ferre Reggers added another 19 points, while Italy’s leading scorer Alessandro Bovolenta finished with 15, including two aces and two blocks.

In the deciding clash between the two South American archrivals, Argentina were well in control for the most part of the match and managed to win it in straight sets. Outplaying the opponents on all counts, but the attack, the Argentineans mastered a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-18) victory and booked their ticket to the semis. While Brazilian middle blocker Maicon dos Santos Franca was the best scorer of the match on 16 points, including two stuffs, opposite German Gomez and outside hitter Lucas Conde led the winners with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship: full schedule and results

Quick links:
FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship
VBTV
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter