Favourites claim wins as Top 16 takes shape in Boys' U19 Worlds

Tunis, Tunisia, August 24, 2019 - No upsets on Day 4 at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship means that with one day to spare in pool play all the top favourites have secured their tickets to the knockout stage which begins here on Tuesday.

Two spots in the last 16 remain unclaimed, to be decided on Sunday between Bulgaria and Colombia (in a clear-cut win-lose scenario), and Nigeria and the Dominican Republic (with the African side needing just one set to make it through).

Brazil improve record with second win
Brazil were once again shaky at times, but managed to squeeze past Belarus 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 27-25, 25-17) and extend their record to 2-1 in Pool A, thanks mostly to the massive number of unforced errors (a total of 40) by the European side.

Still, Belarus could have gone 2-1 up themselves, had they not wasted their set point at 24-25 in the third.

Darlan Ferreira was top scorer of the game with 18 points, but Belarus produced better distributed scoring with Yauheni Hretski and Maksim Bahatka bagging 14 each and Uladzislau Babkevich adding another 13.


Paulo Ferreira of Brazil gets the ball past Belarus' Aliaksandr Piatrevich at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship in Tunis on Saturday.

To close the day, Chinese Taipei edged Tunisia 3-0 (27-25, 28-26, 25-19), securing their place in the last 16 and leaving the hosts to play out for positions 17-20.

Tunisia struggled to cope with the Asian side's serving, as Chang Yu-Chen and Yu Liang-Sheng registered three aces each out of Chinese Taipei's total of ten.

Tunisia's Aymen Bougerra was top scorer of the game, with Tseng Hsiang-Ming bringing in 13 for the winners.

Iran bounce back - but just barely
Rookies Colombia produced admirable fighting spirit as they took on defending champions Iran - and indeed led by a set at the start of the game and forced Iran to come from behind in the second and third, befor finally being overwhelmed 3-1 (25-27, 25-21, 25-17, 25-13). The win comes after Iran's suprise loss to the Czech Republic on the previous evening.

Colombia's Leiner Aponza registered a tournament-high 8 blocks, but Iran as a whole were so much more efficient in attacking with 52% (54/103) to 39% (35/90). Bardia Saadat was top scorer of the game with 22 points for Iran.


Leiner Aponza posted a tournament high 8 blocks for Colombia, but Iran were unfazed at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship in Tunis.

The Czech Republic demolished Bulgaria 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-22) later in the day, to finish their pool play obligations on a 3-1 record.

This leaves Bulgaria winless in Pool B, which means they'll have to fight it out with Colombia on Sunday for one ticket to the last 16.

With Jiri Mikulenka scoring a match-high 16 points, the Czechs outserved and outblocked the Balkan side which also sturggled to get the ball on the floor with a poor 36% (26/72) in attacking - compared to 51% (40/79) for the Czechs.


Czech high scorer Jiri Mikulenka tries to get the ball past the block of Bulgaria's Georgi Tatarov at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship in Tunis on Saturday.

Egypt secure first place in pool
Egypt extended their winning streak to four with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-21) over Mexico, securing pole position in Pool C, for an advantage in the knockout phase starting Tuesday.

Luis Hernandez scored a match high 17 points for Mexico, but the American side gave away a massive 28 points on unforced errors and are now condemned to play for positions 17-20 in the next phase. Marawan Elnaggar was Egypt's top scorer with 11 points.

Earlier in Pool C Japan had brought Germany crashing down with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-20) sweep inspired by 17 points from Tobias Shigeto and another 16 from Daiki Yamada.

Russia unstoppable
Russia bagged their third win in a row in Pool D, shutting out Nigeria 3-0 (25-15, 15-14, 25-17) in just slightly over an hour, as coach Mikhail Nikolaev got the opportunity to partly rest some of his starters and gave some time on court to all his players.

Every single player scored for Russia, with Mikhail Fedorov and Roman Murashko leading the pack at 10 points each, though top scorer of the match was Chinedu Pascal Ekechi with 13.

Korea wrapped up Day 4 in Pool D with thrashing the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-15) for their second win in the tournament, leaving the Caribbean side winless and setless (though still with a theoretical chance of making the top 16, if they can beat Nigeria in straight sets and then end up with a better point ratio).

Joung Hanyong and Lee Hyeonjin jointly led the scoring for Korea with 15 points each.

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

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
29 – Abdelrahman Elhossiny Jr of Egypt v Japan (3-2) on August 23
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
24 – Simon Torwie of Germany v Argentina (3-1) on August 23

Top Individual Blocking Performances
8 – Aponza Leiner of Colombia v Iran (1-3) on 24 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

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
13 – Russia v Korea (3-1) on August 23
13 – Russia v Nigeria (3-0) on August 24
10 – Italy v Bulgaria (3-2) on August 21

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
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
206 – Egypt v Germany 3-2 (17-25, 27-25, 25-17, 13-25, 17-15) on August 21
202 – Egypt v Japan 3-2 (25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 15-25, 15-10) on August 23
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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