MATCH INFO
Russia stays unbeaten following 3-0 win over Iran
Russian triple block in action during the match
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 6, 2011 – Russia remained undefeated as the seven-time world champions scored its fifth consecutive victory in FIVB Men's Junior World Championship by downing Iran 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) in a second round match of Pool E at Maracanazinho Gymnasium, in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday morning.
With six points in the group, Russia is very close of qualifying to the semifinals, while the Iranian depends on a tough combination of results to keep their chances. The United States, which have three points, and Spain, with zero, will clash later today for their second match in the second round.
FIVB Volleyball Men's Junior World Championship
Brazil August 1-10
Russian opposite Andrey Kolesnik topped the scorers with 20 points, followed by Leonid Shchadilov with 14. Captain and setter Dmitry Kovalev scored impressive 12 points -four attacks, five blocks and three serves. Iran's Amir Ghafour scored 17 and Pourya Fayazi finished with 13 points.
Brazil August 1-10
Russian opposite Andrey Kolesnik topped the scorers with 20 points, followed by Leonid Shchadilov with 14. Captain and setter Dmitry Kovalev scored impressive 12 points -four attacks, five blocks and three serves. Iran's Amir Ghafour scored 17 and Pourya Fayazi finished with 13 points.
Kolesnik was Russia´s main player in the first set as the opposite led the team to 3-0 and 9-3 leads with backcourt spikes and blocking. The Europeans had a bad moment and the Asian managed to take advantage of it, tying the set in the 10th point following a block of Ghafour. With Shchadilov spiking, the Russian stayed ahead in 16-14 before closing the frame 25-21 with Kolesnik scoring again.
In the second set, Shchadilov spiked twice in a row to give Russia an 8-4 lead at the first technical timeout. When the scoreboard showed 14-7 in favor of Russia, Iran's coach Jovica Cvetkovic called for a timeout and made some substitutions. The team scored three straight points, the last with Ghafour, but was not able to catch the Russians, who won 25-19 with Shchadilov spiking.
Iran played its best volleyball in the beginning of the third set and, helped by Russian mistakes as they took a 10-7 lead with a serve point from outside hitter Hamed Tariverdi. The Asian dominance ended when Kovalev scored three block points to give his team a 17-15 lead. A serve point of Ghafour tied the frame 17-17 and Iran took advantage of a mistake on the European side to go in front 21-19. Showing its power, Russian reacted in the end to close the match 25-22 with Kolesnik leading the way.
In the third and last match day of the Pool E, on Sunday, Iran will face Spain at 10 a.m., while the Russian will clash the United States at 4:00 p.m.
Download highresolution