Manama, Bahrain, July 19, 2019 – Italy served a straight-sets match on (25-23, 25-21, 28-26) Poland, to top Pool D of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship on Saturday in Isa Sport City.
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The all-Europe encounter showed nearly equal skills and strengths from the teams. Poland’s power play was anchored on their attacks, matched with heavy serves. Italy likewise displayed superb serving (9 aces) and they were resilient in decisive moments to close off the match to their favour.
Brazil took the second spot in Pool D, after winning 3-0 (25-25, 25-19, 25-13) against Canada. Victor Cardoso led the Brazilians with 14 points, with the rest of the team handling the match with minimal errors.
In Pool B, Korea took the top spot after winning 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-21) against Egypt. Im Donghyeok scored a match-high 19 points, as supported by Lim Sungjin’s 15.
Cuba outplayed Argentina in the tie-breaker (25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 22-25, 15-13) in the other Pool B encounter. Cuba’s Jose Carlos Romero (with 29 points) and Julio Cesar Cardenas (21 points) registered stellar performances for the winning team, while Luciano Palonsky scored 27 points in Argentina’s loss.
Competition continues on Saturday with Korea and Argentina (11:30 local) followed by Cuba and Egypt (14:00 local) in Pool B. Brazil and Italy (16:30 local) followed by Poland and Canada (19:00 local) complete the Pool D matches.