Italy-Egypt, Russia-Argentina in Boys' U19 Worlds semis

Tunis, Tunisia, August 28, 2019 - Semifinals are set at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship after some thrilling and sometimes intense action in Wednesday's quarterfinals here, which saw defending champions Iran crash out of the competition in the hands of Russia, Italy cruise past Japan, Egypt extend their undefeated streak to the expense of Belarus and Argentina put a stop to Bulgaria's amazing run.

Pablo Urchevich and Manuel Armoa dive to try and keep the ball flying on the way to Argentina's thrilling five-set win over Bulgaria for a spot in the semifinals

Italy claimed the first ticket of the day to the semifinals, after destroying Japan 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-14) to secure their third top four appeareance in the history of the competition.

Led by their top scorer Tommaso Rinaldi, who bagged 19 points, Italy totally outserved (9 aces to 0) and outblocked (12 stuffs to 3) Japan. The Europeans, who led throughout the game, were at no moment threatened by the Asians, retaining their undefeated status after six matches.

Italy were runners-up in 1995 (when they lost to Brazil in the final in San Juan, Puerto Rico), gold medallists in 1997 (when they beat Greece in the final in Tehran) and bronze medallists in 2005 (when they beat Argentina in the third-place playoff in Algiers).

Tommaso Stefano about to serve for Italy against Japan

Egypt also remained undefeated after six matches, knocking out Belarus 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-18) to secure at least tying their best ever performance in the history of the competition.

Last time Egypt were in the top four of the competition was in 2001, when they hosted the event in Cairo. The 'Pharaohs' lost to Brazil in the semifinals and to Russia in the bronze medal match. They will now face Italy here in Tunis for a shot at making Friday's final.

Marawan Elnaggar led the scoring for Egypt with 16 and Abdelrahman Elhossiny Jr added another 14 as the Africa side produced a solid performance (especially in attacking efficency with 37/70 for 53%, compared to Belarus' 28/83 for just 34%) and never put in doubt their dominance over the Europeans.

Egypt's Abdelrahman Elhossiny Jr receives the ball against Belarus

Meanwhile, it was payback time for Russia (for losing to Iran in the 2017 final), as they knocked out Iran 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23) in a tense match for a place in this year's semifinals here.

Iran came from behind in the third set to break away after 18-18 and build up on a lead that saw them through to the end. But Russia quickly regrouped, opening up a seven-point lead by 17-10 in the second, and never really looked back.

Iran did try to react in the fourth, in a vain attempt to force a tie-break, and even led very briefly 17-19, before Omar Kurbanov stepped up to serve and delivered back-to-back aces to set things right again. Tensions remained high, though, and it took red cards, one either side following an exchange of words between players on the net, to calm things down just a bit as Russia carried on for the win.

Russia relentlessly pounded Iran from the service line scoring 10 direct aces, but most importantly creating huge problems for the Asian side's reception and never allowing them to properly unfold their attacking.

Led by Roman Murashko who scored 25 points and Kurbanov who added 22 and assisted by some creative setting of Anton Anoshko, Russia were also superior in blocking (with 7 blocks from Iurii Brazhniuk alone) and attacking.

Russia are amongst the top four for the fourth consecutive edition of the Boys' U19 World Championship. But Iran will not be contenders for a medal for the first time since 2011.

Roman Murashko celebrates after he leads Russia to a dramatic win over Iran

Argentina put an end to Bulgaria's bizarre run through this competition with a 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-13) win. The Balkan side had just squeezed into the Round of 16 with just one win in pool play, but then caused a sensation by eliminating six-times youth world champions Brazil for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The two teams were level for most of the latter part of the third set, exchanging sideouts until Bulgaria cancelled Argentina's first set point at 24-23 before rather unceremoniously giving it away on an error by Teodor Yordanov in his attempt to play a second ball. Bulgaria broke away after 20-20 in the fourth with a 4-0 run to reach set point with four to spare.

The tie-break was interrupted for four minutes with the score at 13-11 for the South Americans and Bulgaria serving, when a power surge caused by a huge thunderstorm dimmed the lights. When the two side returned on court to resume play, Bulgaria equalised on a failed blocking attempt by Rodrigo Soria and a kill by Todor Dimitrov. But Tomas Capogrosso replied with a crosscourt spike to bring Argentina to match point and Soria finished off with a block on Denis Karyagin.

Capogrosso and Dimitrov shared top-scoring honours with 19 points each.

Wilson Acosta spikes past the Bulgaria block of Todor Dimitrov and Teodor Yordanov for an epic Argentina win

Korea, Czech Republic, Cuba, Brazil aim at 9th place
Further down the rankings, Korea dominated the Asian derby shutting out Chinese Taipei 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-21) on the back of 15 points by Hong Dongseon to make sure that they'll play for positions 5-9 on Thursday.

There, they'll meet the Czech Republic, who faced tough opposition from Nigeria, but still managed to outlast them in a dramatic 3-2 (25-19, 16-25 25-16, 22-25, 15-10). Jiri Mikulenka broke the 30-point mark (the third player to do so in this World Championship) with 31 for the Czechs.

Cuba, meanwhile, are also after the 9th place, after they thundered past Germany 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-21), with Jose Gutierrez scoring the joint match high of 10 points, on par with the European side's Simon Torwie.

Cuba's next opponent is Brazil, who had a hard time rebounding from their previous night's loss to Bulgaria, but somehow managed to edge USA 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17, 15-10) with Darlan Ferreira and Leandro Campos scoring 15 and 14 points respectively - though it was USA's Francesco Sani with the match high of 22.

Hosts on track for 17th place
Aymen Bougerra scored 21 points, leading Tunisia to a 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-15, 25-21) win over Colombia in the pool for positions 17-20. The hosts are now actually one set away from securing 17th place in the final rankings, after the Dominican Republic bagged their first three sets in the competition for a 3-2 (25-15, 25-21, 17-25, 23-25, 15-10) win over Mexico. The Caribbean side were led by Juan Feliz who scored 21 points in their late night win.

Summary Statistics - 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship

Highest Scorer by Day
23 – Simon Torwie of Germany v Egypt (2-3) on August 21
33 – Joung Hanyong of Korea v USA (3-1) on August 22
29 – Abdelrahman Elhossiny Jr of Egypt v Japan (3-2) on August 23
22 – Bardia Saadat of Iran v Colombia (3-1) on August 24
25 – Simon Torwie of Germany v Mexico (3-2) on August 25
25 – Uladzislau Babkevich of Belarus v Cuba (3-1) on August 25
25 – Manuel Armoa of Argentina v Japan (3-1) on August 25
29 – Daiki Yamada of Japan v Korea (3-1) on August 27
31 – Jiri Mikulenka of the Czech Republic v Nigeria (3-2) on August 28

Top Scoring Performances
33 – Joung Hanyong of Korea v USA (3-1) on August 22
31 – Darlan Ferreira of Brazil v Cuba (2-3) on August 22
31 – Jiri Mikulenka of the Czech Republic v Nigeria (3-2) on August 28
29 – Abdelrahman Elhossiny Jr of Egypt v Japan (3-2) on August 23
29 – Daiki Yamada of Japan v Korea (3-1) on August 27
27 – Amir Hossein Toukhteh of Iran v Bulgaria (3-1) on August 22
27 – Daiki Yamada of Japan v Egypt (2-3) on August 23
26 – Joung Hanyong of Korea v Russia (1-3) on August 23
25 – Simon Torwie of Germany v Mexico (3-2) on August 25
25 – Uladzislau Babkevich of Belarus v Cuba (3-1) on August 25
25 – Manuel Armoa of Argentina v Japan (3-1) on August 25
25 – Roman Murashko of Russia v Iran (3-1) on August 28

Top Individual Blocking Performances
8 – Aponza Leiner of Colombia v Iran (1-3) on 24 August
7 – Iurii Brazhniuk of Russia v Iran (3-1) on 28 August
6 – Dzmitry Dyleuski of Belarus v Chinese Taipei (3-2) on August 21
6 – Nicola Cianciotta of Italy v Bulgaria (3-2) on August 21
6 – Alessandro Gianotti of Italy v Czech Republic (3-0) on August 22
6 – Gustavo Andre of Brazil v Cuba (2-3) on August 22
6 – Omar 'Sherif' Deigham of Egypt v Japan (3-2) on August 23
6 – Jan Kolakowski of Germany v Argentina (3-1) on August 23
6 – Nicola Cianciotta of Italy v Iran (3-1) on August 25
6 – Paolo Porro of Italy v Iran (3-1) on August 25
6 – Reynier Menendez of Cuba v Germany (3-0) on August 28

Top Individual Serving Performances
8 – Lucas Lima of Brazil v Chinese Taipei (3-0) on August 25
7 – Elyes Bouachir of Tunisia v Belarus (3-2) on August 22
7 – Roman Murashko of Russia v USA (3-0) on August 25
7 – Aymen Bougerra of Tunisia v Dominican Republic (3-0) on August 27
6 – Aliaksandr Piatrevich of Belarus v Chinese Taipei (3-2) on August 21
6 – Alessandro Michieletto of Italy v Bulgaria (3-2) on August 21

Top Team Blocking Performances
17 – Bulgaria v Colombia (3-1) on August 25
17 – Italy v Bulgaria (3-2) on August 21
16 – Cuba v Brazil (3-2) on August 22
16 – Italy v Iran (3-1) on August 25
16 – Argentina v Bulgaria (3-2) on August 28
15 – Belarus v Chinese Taipei (3-2) on August 21
15 – Italy v Czech Republic (3-0) on August 22
15 – Brazil v Cuba (2-3) on August 22
15 – Bulgaria v Argentina (2-3) on August 28

Top Team Serving Performances
15 – Tunisia v Belarus (3-2) on August 22
14 – Russia v Dominican Republic (3-0) on August 22
13 – Russia v Korea (3-1) on August 23
13 – Russia v Nigeria (3-0) on August 24
12 – Brazil v Chinese Taipei (3-0) on August 25
12 – Russia v Germany (3-0) on August 27

Highest Scoring Sets
31-29 – United States v Dominican Republic (2nd Set) on August 21
30-28 – Nigeria v Dominican Republic (2nd set) on August 25
29-27 – Egypt v Nigeria (3rd set) on August 27
28-26 – Nigeria v Korea (2nd set) on August 21
28-26 – Belarus v Tunisia (4th set) on August 22
28-26 – Chinese Taipei v Tunisia (2nd set) on August 24

Highest Scoring Matches
236 – Cuba v Brazil 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 27-25) on August 22
216 – Tunisia v Belarus 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 25-23, 26-28, 15-12) on August 22
214 – Argentina v Bulgaria 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-13) on August 28
211 – Brazil v USA 3-2 (24-26, 24-23, 21-25, 25-17, 15-10) on August 28
209 – Bulgaria v Brazil 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 19-25, 25-21, 15-6) on August 27
206 – Egypt v Germany 3-2 (17-25, 27-25, 25-17, 13-25, 17-15) on August 21
203 – Germany v Mexico 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 14-25, 15-12) on August 25
202 – Egypt v Japan 3-2 (25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 15-25, 15-10) on August 23
201 – Dominican Republic v Mexico 3-2 (25-15, 25-21, 17-25, 23-25, 15-10) on August 28

Posted in International on Aug 29, 2019