Bulgaria, Iran and Italy qualified for the semifinals of the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship in Bahrain on Wednesday. The last spot among the best four of the tournament in Manama will be decided in a direct clash between Argentina and Brazil on Thursday.
Men's U21 World Championship 2023
Bulgaria, Iran e Italia verso le semifinali U21
La quarta semifinalista sarà decisa tra Argentina e Brasile
Pubblicato 08:17, 12 lug 2023
Triumphant Alex Nikolov
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Pool E
Bulgarian libero Georgi Mitov in action
La Bulgaria è riuscita a vendicarsi per la seconda volta in questo torneo della sconfitta subita dalla Polonia nella finale del Campionato del Mondo U19 di pallavolo FIVB e questa volta ha stordito i campioni del mondo giovanile in carica con un netto 3-0 (25-18, 35-33, 25-18). Il secondo set, tuttavia, ha offerto una battaglia epica, in cui molti set point sono stati negati e sprecati da entrambi i lati della rete prima che gli europei meridionali potessero finalmente chiudere la partita sul 35-33. L'astro nascente bulgaro Aleksandar Nikolov ha realizzato 18 punti, tutti in attacco, per la vittoria. Venislav Antov ne ha aggiunti altri 17, tra cui quattro blocchi e due ace, mentre Georgi Tatarov ha impressionato con sei blocchi di kills per un totale di 13 punti. L'opposto polacco Aliaksei Nasevich ha chiuso con 15 punti, tra cui tre blocchi e un ace.
Three-man Iranian block
As Iran delivered a routine 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-19) shutout of Thailand in Wednesday’s second Pool E match, both the Iranians and the Bulgarians could celebrate as semifinalists, before their direct duel for the first place in the pool on Thursday. Iran made more unforced errors than Thailand, but other than that, they completely outplayed the opponents on all counts. However, Thailand’s Jakkrit Thanomnoi was the only player to reach the double digits in scoring. He finished with 11 points, including an ace and a block. Three players – Pourya Hossein Khanzadeh, Shayan Sepehri Fard and Mobin Nasri Mastanabad – led Iran with nine points each.
Pool F
Italy’s Alessandro Bovolenta on fire
In Wednesday’s first Pool D match, Italy got back at Brazil for losing their match of the first phase of the tournament and managed a 3-1 (25-23, 31-29, 18-25, 25-21) victory, which later on proved sufficient for advancement to the semifinals. Alessandro Bovolenta exploded with 35 points towards the victory. He spiked at a 63% success rate and added an ace to his impressive tally. His teammate Riccardo Iervolino added another 13 points, while Brazil’s most prolific player, middle blocker Thiery Oliveira Morais do Nascimento finished with 14.
Ecstatic German Gomez of Argentina
In a nail-biting battle for first win in Pool E, Argentina came back from a set down twice against Belgium, to celebrate a 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 23-25, 28-26, 15-9) victory, which set up a direct head-to-head duel with South American archrivals Brazil on Thursday for the last vacancy in the semis. Opposite German Gomez was on fire, acing four times towards a 28-point match high, also including two kill blocks. Outside Pierre Perin was Belgium’s best scorer with 21 points, followed by opposite and captain Ferre Reggers with 19 points, including three aces.
