Men's U21 World Championship 2023 - News.

Poland (POL) vs. Belgium (BEL) men - Play Off 5-8 #5838000

Poland and Brazil will lock horns for the fifth place in the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship final standings. On Saturday in Bahrain, they mastered straight-set wins over Belgium and Thailand, respectively, and will meet each other in their last match of the Manama tournament on Sunday. Belgium and Thailand will also face each other in a duel for the seventh place.

Poland were clearly the better team on the court during the first set of their playoff encounter in Belgium. In the second, they had to fight off all Belgian breakaway attempts until taking the lead for good after 13-13. The third set was by far the most competitive one, with the lead going back and forth to push the set to overtime. In the end, it was a victory for Poland. Blocking was the only element, at which the Belgians scored more points than their central European opponents. Opposite Aliaksei Nasevich was once again Poland’s leading scorer. He put away two aces and 12 spiking points towards a total tally of 14. Outside hitter Piotr Sliwka added another 11 points towards the victory. Belgium’s Basil Dermaux was the best scorer of the match with 16 points to his name.

Brazil (BRA) vs. Thailand (THA) men - Play Off 5-8 #5839737

Brazil’s Lima in offence

In una partita senza suspense, il Brasile ha lasciato poche possibilità alla Thailandia e ha dominato in modo convincente in tre set, ottenendo un 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-15). Solo in termini di errori non forzati, gli asiatici si sono comportati meglio dei sudamericani in questa partita. Per festeggiare il successo, il Brasile ha completamente superato la Thailandia in termini di attacchi (48 a 26) e di servizio (sette a uno). Il centrale Thiery Fellipe Oliveira Morais do Nascimento ha realizzato il massimo dell'incontro con 14 punti, tra cui due ace e un blocco. Joao Vitor dos Santos Lima ne ha aggiunti altri 12, mentre Jakkrit Thanomnoi è stato il marcatore più prolifico della Thailandia con 11 punti.