Cracking Cuba thrill at Boys' U19 Worlds

Tunis, Tunisia, August 22, 2019 - Cuba starred on day two of the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship here on Thursday, coming back from two sets down and outlasting Brazil in the tie-break after a total of 13 match points either side in what developed into match of the day in the Tunisian capital.

The Caribbean side cancelled a total of three match points of six-times youth world champions (although they have not been on the podium since 2005) Brazil in the tie-break. But it took Cuba ten of their own to seal the deal, with Victor Andreu blocking Lima Donato and Luis Allen serving an ace on the Brazilian just after he returned on the court to substitute Adriano Fernandes for the closing points.

The Cuban serving proved a little too much for the Brazilian reception to handle, producing 11 aces, as Eduardo Hernandez scored 22 points and Allen added another 20 (including five blocks) for Cuba - though the match high belonged to Brazil's Darlan Ferreira with 30.

And in back-to-back Pool A five-set thrillers hosts Tunisia had the home crowd on their feet with a stuning 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 25-23, 26-28, 15-12) win over Belarus.

It took Belarus four set balls to force the tie-break, though Tunisia never got a shot at finishing the game in four, despite the home side causing all sorts of problems to the Belarus reception with their tournament high 15 aces - seven (also a tournament high) by Elyes Bouachir alone in his 30-point scoring performance.

Defending champs open with hard-earned win
Bulgaria gave Iran a run for their money, but the Asian superpower managed to embark on their campaign on the right foot with a 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20).

Bulgaria came from behind in the second set to draw level at 20-20 and then made a 5-1 run to the finish line, bringing it home on back-to-back monster blocks by Petar Petrov and Teodor Yordanov. But the Europeans blew an 8-11 lead in the fourth, allowing Iran to to finish with minimal damages.


Iran's Mehran Feyz strikes against the double Bulgarian block of Petar Petrov and Teodor Yordanov at the 2019 FIVB Boys' Youth World Championship in Tunis.

Iran were led by Amir Hossein Toukhteh and his match-high 27 points and kept unforced errors to a mere 17 as Bulgaria conceded as many as 27.

Italy had previously extended their record to 2-0 in Pool B, once again putting up an impenetrable block to stop the Czech Republic 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-13), with opposite Tommaso Stefani bagging a match-high 12 points.


Ondrej Unzeitig of the Czech Republic attacks opposite the double Italian block of Alessandro Gianotti and Leonardo Ferrato on Day 2 of the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship in Tunis.

Egypt on a roll
Egypt advanced to 2-0 after sweeping past Argentina 3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 21-25, 25-12) and though the South Americans did pull one back, they were never seriously threatening as Abdelrahman Elhossiny Jr once again top-scored for Egypt with 20 points.

Japan, meanwhile, opened their own campaign with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-13) sweep of Mexico who remain winless after two matches. Daiki Yamada posted the match high scoring, bagging 18 points for Japan.

Joung Hanyong scores tournament high for Korea
With a tournament high of 32 points, Joung Hanyong led Korea back from a set down to beat USA 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22) bringing both sides now to 1-1 records. Joung was the first player to break the 30-point mark at this World Championship (although Brazil's Ferreira later in the day bagged 31 against Cuba and Tunisia's Bouachir scored 30 against Belarus).

To close the day for Pool D, 2017 runners up Russia destroyed the Dominican Republic from the service line (14 aces to 1, including five each from Mikhail Fedorov and Anton Anoshko) and also on the block (7 stuffs to 1) for a 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-17) win and a demonstration of power.

Summary Statistics - 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship

Highest Scorer by Day
33 – Joung Hanyong of Korea v USA (3-1) on August 22
23 – Simon Torwie of Germany v Egypt (2-3) on August 21

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
27 – Amir Hossein Toukhteh of Iran v Bulgaria (3-1) on August 22
23 – Simon Torwie of Germany v Egypt (2-3) on August 21
22 – Uladzislau Babkevich of Belarus v Chinese Taipei (3-2) on August 21
22 – Eduardo Hernandez of Cuba v Brazil (3-2) on Augist 22

Top Individual Blocking Performances
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

Top Individual Serving Performances
7 – Elyes Bouachir of Tunisia v Belarus (3-2) on August 22
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 – Italy v Bulgaria (3-2) on August 21
16 – Cuba v Brazil (3-2) on August 22
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

Top Team Serving Performances
15 – Tunisia v Belarus (3-2) on August 22
14 – Russia v Dominican Republic (3-0) on August 22
10 – Italy v Bulgaria (3-2) on August 21
9 – Belarus v Chinese Taipei (3-2) on August 21
9 – Czech Republic v Colombia (3-0) on August 21
9 – Cuba v Brazil (3-2) on August 22

Highest Scoring Sets
31-29 – United States v Dominican Republic (2nd Set) on August 21
28-26 – Nigeria v Korea (2nd set) on August 21
28-26 – Belarus v Tunisia (4th set) on August 22
27-25 – Egypt v Germany (2nd set) on August 21
27-25 – Cuba v Brazil (5th set) on August 22

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)
206 – Egypt v Germany 3-2 (17-25, 27-25, 25-17, 13-25, 17-15) on August 21
196 – Italy v Bulgaria 3-2 (25-14, 21-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-7) on August 21

Quick links - Volleyball:
FIVB.com - Volleyball Boys' U19 World Championship - Tunisia 2019
FIVB.com - Volleyball
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