Cuba's Livan Osoria Rodriguez and Luis Tomas Sosa Sierra celebrate the victory against Italy with the competition logo
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, August 29, 2015 – Dark horses Turkey complete the Semifinal line up at the Men's U23 World Championship though they finished their matches in the first round with a defeat against Brazil as both teams were level at 3-2 win- loss ratio with 10 points and Turkey qualified through the set ratio. Turkey had a set ratio of 12/7 compared with 12/8 for Brazil.
Brazil finished their first round campaign with a win against Turkey 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21) in Pool B, while Russia continued their winning streak with a fifth victory against winless Mexico 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-17). Argentina fought for 2 hours to beat Tunisia 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 17-25, 15-6). Russia lead Pool B with 5-0 (13 points), followed by Turkey (3-2 and 10 points), Brazil (also 3-2 and 10 points), Argentina (3-2, 8 points), Tunisia (1-4, 4 points) and Mexico (0-5, 0 points).
Cuba upset Italy in the day's most exciting game 3-2 (25-27, 23-25, 26-24, 27-25, 15-9), while Iran fought for another 5 setter to outclass Egypt 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 25-12, 24-26, 15-9). Korea topped UAE 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-16). Cuba led Pool A with 14 points from 5-0, followed by Italy (4-1, 13 points), Iran (3-2, 8 points), Korea (2-3, 6 points and finally UAE (0-5, 0 points).
At the end of the preliminary round, only Cuba and Russia maintained their unbeaten record in 5 matches with the Cubans only conceding 3 sets as the best in this item.
Semifinal Programme on August 30
Cuba v Turkey
Russia v Italy
Play off 5 to 8
Iran v Argentina
Brazil v Korea
Pool A
Cuba overcame a slow start to defeat Italy 3-2 (25-27, 23-25, 26-24, 27-25, 15-9) to top Pool A at Al Nasr Hall. Both teams already booked earlier semifinal tickets as Italy Face winner of Pool B Russia, while Cuba meets Turkey on Sunday.
Behind the offense of Osmany Uriarte, who led all the players in the game with 26 points, Cuba brushed aside Italy's team that gave away 31 points via errors. Abrahan Alfonso contributed 22 points and David Gutierrez 11to the winning effort. Tiziano Mazzone was the top offensive player for the European team with 23 points followed by Gabriele Nelli 19. Cuba scored 21 blocks against 15 for the Italian who had a slim 4/2 advantage in serving
Outside hitter Pourya Fayazi conducted Iran to a scintillating victory over Egypt in grueling fiver setter 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 25-12, 24-26, 15-9). Iran's captain scored impressive 27 crucial points including 3 aces to bring the important points to in each set to settle the match aided by Mohamed Razi and Javad Husseinabadi who scored 15 points each. Egypt's opposite Ahmed Saad contributed 23 points for the losers followed by Eid Aboulsoud 14.
Iran improved their competition record to 3-2 to finish their pool matches at the third position and meet Argentina in the play off 5 to 8 places.
Korea finished their pool A matches on the right foot after they claimed their second win against hosts UAE 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-16). With the win Korea improved their win- loss ratio to 2-3 to clinch a 5 to 8 standing slot and play against Brazil, while UAE finished at the 6th position with 0-5.
Wing spiker Kim Inhyeok claimed 14 points to top the winners' scores followed by Ham Hyeongjin 11, while UAE's captain attacker Adel Albooshi collected 10 points as best scorer for the losers.
Pool B
Russia whitewashed Mexico in straight sets (25-22, 25-12, 25-17) in pool B at Al Ahli Club. Russia qualified for the semifinals after fourth day but with this win they stayed unbeaten and finished atop in Pool B. Mexico finished the tournament without winning a set. Russia’s Egor Feoktistov and Dmitry Volkov scored 13 points each for the winning team. On the other side, Julian Duartes scored 8 points for Mexico.
Turkey qualified for the semifinals despite losing Brazil 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21). Winning only one set was enough for Turkey to finish Pool B in second position and confirm semifinal ticket while Brazil lost their chance to qualify. Turkey will play against Pool A leader Cuba in the semis.
Brazil’s Carlos Eduardo Barreto was the star player of the game with 21 points. Turkey’s best scorer was Emre Senol with 14 points.
Argentina defeated Tunisia 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 17-25, 15-6) in the last game of Pool B in the FIVB Men’s U23 World Championship at Al Ahli Club in Dubai, on Saturday.
Argentina, who reached 8 points after this game, will play 5-8 classification against Iran. While Tunisia eliminated with 4 points. Elyes Garfi of Tunisia was the best scorer of the game with 19 points. Nicolas Lazo scored 15 points for Argentina.
Best Performances
Top Scorer by Day
Day 1: 21- Gabriele Nelli of Italy v Egypt on on August 24
Day 2: 24- Javad Hosseinabadi of Iran v Korea on August 25
Day 3: 23- Metin Toy of Turkey v Mexico on August 26
23- Maesre Uriarte of Cuba v Iran on August 26
Day 4: 34- Pablo Koukartsev of Argentina v Brazil on August 28
Day 5: 27- Fayazi Pourya of Iran v Egypt on August 29
Top Scoring Performances
34- Pablo Koukartsev of Argentina v Brazil on August 28
27- Fayazi Pourya of Iran v Egypt on August 29
26- Maesre Uriarte of Cuba v Italy on August 29
24- Gonzalo Quiroga of Argentina v Brazil on August 28
24- Javad Hosseinabadi of Iran v Korea on August 25
23- Ahmed Saad of Egypt v Iran on August 29
23- Tiziano Mazzone of Italy v Cuba on August 29
23- Metin Toy of Turkey v Mexico on August 26
23- Maesre Uriarte of Cuba v Iran on August 26
22- Alan Souza of Brazil v Argentina on August 28
22- Metin Toy of Turkey v Tunisia on August 25
21- Carlos Barreto of Brazil v Turkey on August 29
21- Mohamed Alsuwaidi of UAE v Cuba on August 28
21- Gokhan Gokgoz of Turkey v Russia on August 28
21- Sergai Mikitin of Russia v Argentina on August 26
21- Gabriele Nelli of Italy v Egypt on August 24
20- Douglas Souza of brazil v Argentina on August 28
20- Edgar Kliuka of Russia v Turkey on August 28
20- Javad Hosseinabadi of Iran v Cuba on August 26
20- Gabriele Nelli of Italy v Korea on August 26
20- Alexander Kimerov of Russia v Brazil on August 25
20- Alexander Kimerov of Russia v Tunisia on August 24
Top Individual Serving Performances
4- Elyes Garfi of Tunisia v Brazil on August 26
4- Gabriele Nelli of Italy v UAE on August 25
4- Malek Chekir of Tunisia v Russia on August 24
Top Team Serving Performances
11- Cuba v Korea on August 24
9- Italy v Egypt on August 24
9- Egypt v Italy on August 24
Top Individual Blocking Performances
8- Joaquin Gallengo of Argentina v Russia on August 26
7- Emre Savas of Turkey v Russia on August 28
7- Pablo Koukartsev of Argentina v Brazil on August 28
7- Joaquin Gallengo of Argentina v Turkey on August 24
7- Luca Sprito of Italy v Korea on August 26
6- Mohamed Razi of Iran v Egypt on August 29
6- Ricardo calvo of Cuba v Italy on August 29
6- Segei Nikitin of Russia v Argentina on August 26
6- Jose Martinez of Mexico v Turkey on August 26
6- Ivan Demakov of Russia v Brazil on August 25
Top Team Blocking Performances
22- Russia v Tunisia on August 24
21- Cuba v Italy on August 29
21- Russia v Turkey on August 28
18- Russia v Argentina on August 26
17- Italy v Korea on August 26
16- Argentina v Turkey on August 24
Highest Scoring Sets
Day 1: 25-22 Cuba v Korea (3rd Set) on August 24
25-22 Tunisia v Russia (2nd set) on August 24
Day 2: 26-24 Russia v Brazil (1st set) on August 25
Day 3: 33-31 Cuba v Iran (1st set) on August 26
Day 4: 33-31 Brazil v Argentina (3rd set) on August 28
Day 5: 27-25 Cuba v Italy (4th set) on August 29
Highest Scoring Matches
Day 1 Turkey v Argentina 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19) on August 24 - 181 points
Day 2 Iran v Korea 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-22) on August 25 - 185 points
Day 3 Russia v Argentina 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 15-9) on August 26 - 212 points
Day 4 Argentina v Brazil 3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 31-33, 23-25, 15-13) on August 28 - 226 points
Day 5 Cuba v Italy 3-2 (25-27, 23-25, 26-24, 27-25, 15-9) on August 29 - 226 points