MATCH INFO
Serbia reacts to win its first match in the second round
Outside hitter Uros Kovacevic scored 20 points
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 6, 2011 – Fifth world-ranked Serbia recovered from a bad start in Pool F of the second round of FIVB Men´s Junior World Championship to record its first win of the stage on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. The European squad defeated India 3-1 (25-13, 19-25, 25-22 and 27-25) at the world widely known Maracanazinho Gymnasium.
With the 3-0 win, Serbia earns its first three points in the second round, while the Indians are still without points. Leaders Brazil and Argentina have three each and will play later tonight o decide the pool´s temporarily lead.
Serbia's captain Aleksandar Atanasijevic hammered 29 points to lead the winning cause while Uros Kovacevic finished with 20. India's opposite Dhanabalan Selvaprabhu had a match-high 30 points and middle blocker G.R. Vaishnav achieved 16, including 9 blocks.
Serbia's dominance began with the first points of the match when the Europeans quickly achieving a 7-1 lead taking advantage of India's mistakes. With Atanasijevic spiking, the Serbians went to the second technical timeout with a 16-10 lead. Setter Nikola Jovovic played a second ball to score 21-12 and Kovacevic spiked to close the frame 25-13.
India's head coach M. H. Kumara changed four players for the second set and the team reacted, led by setter Thennarasan, scoring the first four points of the partial. With Atanasijevic in the line, Serbia tied it in the 7th point, but the Indians escaped again, achieving a 16-14 lead in the second technical timeout with Selvaprabhu spiking powerfully. In the end, Vaishnav was decisive for the Indian win by scoring two blocks and a spike point, before Serbian Dusan Petkovic attacked out of boundes to seal the Asian win 25-19.
With Selvprabhu playing a great match, India started the third set ahead scoring 10-8 with a backcourt spike, but a few moments later Atanasijevic blocked for the 12-12. With a huge block by Kovacevic, the Serbian side took the lead 17-15 and kept it until the end of the set, when a block point of Milan Peric closed it 25-22.
Once again, India took an early lead in the fourth frame 4-0. After a long rally, Selvaprabhu confirmed the Asian advantage spiking to score for a 14-10 advantage. Serbia improved a lot in the end of the frame and led by its captain Atanasijevic managed to reverse a 24-21 disadvantage into a 27-25 win, following a spike mistake of India.
On Sunday, Serbia will play its last match in the Pool F by facing Argentina at 12:30, while India will clash host Brazil in the closing match at 6:30 p.m.
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