press

Tehran, Iran, August 31 - The ruling order of world Volleyball was shaken up on Sunday as underdogs Poland pulled off the surprise of the Men's Under 21 World Championship in Tehran after they won the final over title holders Brazil in five magnificent sets. Poland, who lost to Brazil in their preliminary Pool match 3-0, sealed the victory 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-11 to win the cup for only the second time in their history. More German French Spanish Match Stats Results Standings
Pic: Poland rejoice on the final whistle

Brazil and Poland through to final

Tehran, Iran, August 30 - The two favorites ahead of the Men's Under 21 World Championship semifinals on Saturday, Brazil and Poland, played accordingly and booked themselves a spot in Sunday's final after respective wins over South Korea and Bulgaria. Brazil beat the surprise package of the tournament, South Korea, in straight sets (25-18, 25-20, 25-19) in the shortest of Saturday's matches while Poland, led by spiker Mariusz Wlazy and the talented setter Pawel Woicki, came from one set behind to record a 3-1 (21-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-21) victory to reach the final for only the second time in their history. More German Spanish French
Brazil v Korea Match Stats Poland v Bulgaria Match Stats
Standings Results
Pic: High fives all round for Brazil

Russia and Iran knocked out on surprise day

Tehran, Iran, August 29 - In a day of major surprises, Brazil, Bulgaria, South Korea and Poland qualified for the semifinals of the 12th Men's Under 21 World Championship in Tehran following fantastic victories over Iran, Russia, Germany and Serbia and Montenegro respectively. It was a sad day and a major shock for the organizers who were one of the favorites along with Russia and Brazil for the title. But they had the toughest of assignments in trying to beat the Brazilian big guns. Despite the 13,000 fans in attendance Brazil still triumphed in straight sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-20). More Spanish German French Results
Pic: Iran celebrate a point before being knocked out by Brazil

Brazil & Iran shape up in crucial quarterfinal clash

Tehran, Iran, August 28 - The spotlight will be on Brazil's clash with Iran as the quarterfinals of the Men's Under 21 World Championship start in Tehran on Friday. Both Brazil, the red hot favorites for the title and Iran, usually aided by more than 10,000 spectators, were expected to go a long way in the tournament but come Friday, the Championship will be over for one of them. More Spanish German French Match Schedule Tournament format Standings
Pic: Serbia and Montenegro will play Poland in the quarterfinals

Brazil sweep Russia to continue charge

Tehran, Iran, August 27 - Brazil proved their favoritism for the Men's U21 World Championship in Iran after they crushed Russia 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 25-21) in a play off seeding match dubbed "the early final" on Wednesday. Brazil's big guns Samuel Fuchs and Leonardo Silva put on an exhilarating attacking display to penetrate the solid Russian block as Brazil wrapped up the match in 97 minutes. Brazilian coach Antonio Lerbach said: "We started nervously, but when the players concentrated we achieved a valuable victory." In the other play off seeding match Serbia and Montenegro slipped into title contention after delivering a 3-0 lesson to the surprise of the first round, South Korea in only one hour. More Spanish German French Results
Pic: Serbia and Montenegro in action against Korea

Day Five - Big clash set in play off matches
Tehran, Iran, August 26 - Traditional Volleyball powerhouses and the two of the favorites for the 12th Men's Under 21 World Championship, Brazil and Russia will meet Wednesday in one of the feature early play off seeding group matches in the second round starting at 14.30 GMT. More French Spanish Match Schedule Tournament format Standings Results

Day Four - Rest Day
Italy go home as play off teams confirmed

Tehran, Iran, August 25, 2003 - The European Champions Italy have been knocked out of the Men's U21 World Championship after conceding their third successive loss from as many games going down to Bulgaria on Monday in straight sets 25-21, 25-20, 25-17 in Pool D. Serbia and Montenegro qualified for the play-off seeding group after topping Pool D with three wins from three, following their nail-biting 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 25-27, 15-10) win over Slovakia. More German French Spanish Results Standings Match Reports Tournament format
Pic: Brazil in action as they beat Tunisia 3-0

Italy in trouble after second defeat

Tehran, Iran, August 24, 2003 - European Champions Italy are on the verge of being knocked out of the 12th Men's Under 21 World Championship after losing for the second successive time in day two action on Sunday in Tehran, Iran going down to Slovakia 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-23) Match stats. The Italians lost their opening match to Serbia and Montenegro and must now beat Bulgaria in their final pool match on Monday. Five teams, Serbia Montenegro, South Korea, Brazil, Russia and Germany clinched their second win in a row to secure a place in the second round. Italy were completely out of form when they suffered an unexpected defeat against the better performed Slovakians in their Pool D match. More French Spanish German Results Standings Match Schedule Match reports
Pic: Iran in action as they beat Egypt

Drama for Iran, Italy; early win for Bulgaria

Tehran, Iran, August 23- Hosts Iran and European champion Italy suffered shock defeats and Bulgaria had a stunning victory to open the 12th Men's Under 21 World Championship here in the Iranian capital. Korea prevailed over Iran 3-1(28-26, 18-25,25-23, 25-23) in Pool a, dubbed the Pool of Death, while Serbia and Montenegro beat Italy 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 22-25,26-24) in 92 minutes of great volleyball.
The Koreans fought hard with hosts Iran, who were well supported by 6000 spectators and managed to take the first set 28-26 with their super star Kang Dong in the top form.more Spanish French Results Standings Match reports Match Schedule

What the coaches say
August 23, 2003 - The 12th Men's U21 World Championship is set to start on Saturday in the Iranian capital of Tehran. Here is what the coaches say ahead of the nine-day tournament: More Spanish French Match Schedule Match reports

Brazil, Iran, Russia and Italy title contenders
Tehran, Iran, August 22 - Defending champions Brazil, hosts Iran, Russia and Italy will be the favorites, according to most of the coaches, to win the 12th edition of the Men's Under 21 World Championship, once it starts on Saturday in the Azadi Sports Centre in the Iranian capital, Tehran. More Spanish German

Brazil warms up with win over Germany
August 21, 2003 - The Brazilian U21 team completed their preparation in defense of their World Championship title with a well worked straight sets win over Germany in the city of Eisenhüttenstadt, next to Berlin, Germany on Wednesday. More Spanish

Iran continues good build up
Tehran, Iran, August 21 - Fourteen teams from around the world have reached Tehran on Wednesday leaving just China and Venezuela to complete the 16 teams for the 12th Men's Under 21 World Championship, which starts on Saturday. More Spanish

Hosts warm up with Canadian win
Tehran, Iran, August 20, 2003 - As teams participating in the 2003 Men's Under 21 World Championship are in the process of arriving in Tehran to compete in the championship, which starts on Saturday, the Iran national team completed a straight sets (26-24, 25-21, 25-22) win over Canada in a friendly match on Tuesday. More Spanish German

Brazil on its way for third title
August 13, 2003 - The Brazilian U21 men's team left their home country on Werdnesday to embark on their defense of the U21 World Championship in Tehran, Iran, which starts on August 23 and finishes on August 31. More

Egypt prepare for Iran
August 11, 2003 - The Egyptian men's U21 team completed their final warm up for the Men's World Championship with a training camp in Poland which included three matches against the Polish U21 team. More Story by Tarek AL-ADWAR, CAVB Press Officer

India warm up well for Men's Junior Championship
July 29, 2003 - The Indian junior team, which has qualified for the World Junior Men's Championship, to be held in Teheran, Iran in August, recently completed a successful tour of Tunisia and Egypt. The Tunisian tour began on a winning note as India beat Tunisia A 23-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19 before they downed the Tunisia Club team 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22. In an annual tournament, India scored comfortable victories over Algeria (25-23, 25-23, 25-10) and Tunisia (25-18, 25-19, 26-24) junior sides, then beat Italy 3-2 and lost to Germany 0-3 in a tournament in Italy. However, in the semifinals, India had to fight hard to beat Algeria 25-19, 22-25, 24-26, 25-19, 15-8 and in the final the Indian team went down to Tunisia A 24-26, 23-15, 25-21, 23-25. More