Pool play wraps up at Boys' U19 Worlds ahead of knockout stage

Tunis, Tunisia, August 25, 2019 - The last remaining spots in the Round of 16 were grabbed by Bulgaria and Nigeria as pool play completed Sunday at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship in Tunis, where the knockout stage involving the top 16 sides is set to kick off on Tuesday, following Monday's rest day.

Round of 16 knockout matches on Tuesday, August 27:
Italy v Chinese Taipei
Japan v Korea
Czech Republic v Belarus
Egypt v Nigeria
Russia v Germany
Cuba v Iran
USA v Argentina
Brazil v Bulgaria

Tunisia, Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, who all ranked fifth in their pools, continue in the competition forming a round-robin pool for positions 17 to 20.

Cuba loss lifts Brazil to pole position
Uladzislau Babkevich scored a joint high of the day of 25 points to guide Belarus to a stunning win over Cuba 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-16), as the European side took advantage of 33 unforced errors by the Caribbean team.

This allowed Brazil top the standings of Pool A after their 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-20) of Chinese Taipei at the close of the day, as coach Preturlon Ribeiro brought on his subs for the third set.

Lucas Lima, who only played two sets, emerged top scorer of the match with 15 points, including a tournament high eight aces.

Bulgaria advance, Italy stay undefeated
A tournament high 18 blocks was good to see Bulgaria through to the top 16 with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-21, 24-26, 26-24) over Colombia that decided the last remaining ticket from Pool B. The South American side, making their debut in a World Championship of this age-group, however, went down fighting and it took two match balls for Bulgaria to close the match on their second try with an ace of Georgi Tatarov on Santiago Ruiz.

Bulgaria missed an opportunity to get the job done in three, after blowing a match point at 24-23 in the third, when Colombia reacted with back-to-back blocks by Cristian Murillo and Daniel Aponza both on Petar Petrov, followed by an error by setter Lyuboslav Telkiyski.

A little later in the day Italy clinched top position in Pool B, remaining undefeated in pool play, with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 24-26, 25-11) over defending champions Iran - though both teams were already assured of a spot in the knockout stage.

It took Iran three set balls in the third to take it and stay alive, but Italy came back in full force to close the match in four.

Tommaso Stefani with 23 points led Italy, though it was the European side's blocking with 16 aces, including six each from Nicola Cianciotta and Paolo Porro that made the difference.

Japan go down, but secure second place in pool
Germany registered their second win of the tournament when they outlasted Mexico 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 14-25, 15-12) - though already even before the match Mexico were out of reach of a place amongst the top 16.

Simon Torwie with a joint day's high of 25 led the Germans in a match dominated by a few too many errors on either side.


Mexico's Franky Milantony gets blocked by Germany's Max Schulz at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship in Tunis.

Argentina stunned Japan with a 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 26-24, 25-21) win that made little difference to the Asian side who finished second in the pool (to undefeated Egypt) regardless.

Manuel Armoa scored the third of the day's high of 25 points as Japan struggled to keep up with the South Americans on the net.


Japan's Tobias Takeshi Shigeto hits against the triple block of Argentina at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship in Tunis.

Nigeria get the Top 16 ticket
Nigeria needed only a set against the Dominican Republic to secure their ticket to the last 16, but got all three them against the Caribbean side in their 3-0 (25-17, 30-28, 25-17) win.

The Dominican Republic missed their chance at claiming their first set in the competition when they were first to reach set point in the second with three to spare at 21-24. But Nigeria rallied to level the score and went on to cancel one more at 26-27 before getting it right on the fourth try of their own with a kill by Chinedu Pascal followed by a missed attacking opportunity by Fuhit Edouard.


Juan Feliz of the Domican Republic attacks past the double Nigeria block of Oforah Izuchukwu and Prince Okechukwu at the 2019 FIVB Boys' U19 World Championship in Tunis.

Russia wrapped up Pool D thrashing USA 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-12) to stay undefeated and top the standings with some great serving and blocking. Roman Murashko top-scored for the European side with 18 points, including seven of his team's ten aces.

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

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
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

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
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 – Rayshon Nehemiah Jackman of Chinese Taipei v Brazil on August 25

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
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
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
12 – Brazil v Chinese Taipei (3-0) on August 25

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
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
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

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