Press release

Bahia Blanca, Argentina, August 26, 2011 – Spain and France in Pool F and Serbia and Cuba in Pool E are the semifinalists of the 2011 Boy’s Youth Volleyball World Championship whose final stages will be played at Gimnasio Osvaldo Casanova of Bahia Blanca on Saturday and Sunday.

Spain confirmed its position atop of Pool F by blanking Greece 25-19, 30-28, 15-19 while France qualified in second place after a 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-11) come from behind victory against Bulgaria.

Meanwhile in Pool E, Serbia finished first after a convincing victory 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-15, 25-20) over China. The second place of the group went to Cuba after the 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 25-17) triumph over hosts Argentina in the last match of Friday in Bahia Blanca.

In Saturday’s semifinals Serbia will play against France while Spain will clash with Cuba. In the round for 5-8 it will be Bulgaria versus China and Argentina against Greece.

In the semifinal competition for the 9-12 positions Brazil goes against United States while Iran meets Egypt. In the consolation round for the positions 13-16, it will be Tunisia versus Russia and Puerto Rico versus Korea.

Pool E

Serbia 3, China 1
Serbia subdued China in four sets (25-15, 20-25, 25-15, 25-20) to secure top place of Pool E. The victory left the defending champions with a 3-0 win-loss mark and 8 points while Cuba and hosts Argentina were to decide the other semifinalist in the competition. Playing without star Uros Kovacevic, Serbia was still very effective and had Mihajlo Stankovic as the best scorer with 12 points. Sinisia Zarkovic and Aleksandar Blagojevic and Sinisia Zarkovic each recorded 11 with 6 blocks and 4 serving aces respectively, and Luka Medic added 10 tallies. China’s Zheng Qin had 3 blocks and 3 aces among his 14 points. Kunyu Du and Zhimin Leng added 13 and 12.

Cuba 3, Argentina 1
Lazaro Fundora hammered 29 points to carry Cuba to the semifinals following a powerful victory over hosts Argentina in four sets (25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 25-17). Cuba finished in second place of the pool with a 2-1 record while Argentina (1-2) will play in the round for 5-8 places. Fundora’s superb night included 26 attacks, one block and two aces. Yordan Bisset and Nelson Loyola contributed 14 and 12 points to the victory. The best Argentinean was Gonzalo Lapera with 18 points while the top-gun and tournament’s leading scorer Gonzalo Quiroga was limited to only 11 points.

Pool F

France 3, Bulgaria 2
France made a miraculous comeback from two sets down and qualified to the semifinals by outdueling Bulgaria 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-11). France improved to 2-1 and 6 points in Pool F where the already qualified Spain has 5 points and one match to play against Greece. Five French players led by Soane Falalafala’s 18 points finished in double digits. Trevor Clevenot followed with 15 while Quentin Jouffroy, Thibault Rossard and Antoine Brizard added 13, 12 and 11 respectively. Ivan Ivanov led Bulgaria with 16 followed by Petar Nenkov with 11 and Radoslav Popov and Stanislav Velichkov each with 10.

Spain 3, Greece 0
Spain defeated Greece in straight sets (25-19, 30-28, 25-19) to finish atop of Pool F. Spain finished with a 3-0 win-loss record and 8 points in the second round while Greece concluded winless and will play for the 5-8 positions starting on Saturday. Spain outblocked Greece 15-8 with Andres Villena recording six of his match-high 19 points via blocks. Dane Munoz contributed 10 points and the winners benefited from 23 errors of the opponent while committing only eight. Rafail Koumentakis topped Greece with 13 points while Anestis Dalakouras and Georgios Tzioumakas notched 11 and 10 respectively.

Pool G

Tunisia 3, Puerto Rico 0
In a duel between two winless teams, Tunisia claimed the chance for its first celebration seeing off Puerto Rico in straight sets (25-21, 25-18, 25-21). Nevertheless, both teams will play for the 13th place from this Saturday on. Tunisia's Adam Oueslati led the scorers with 13 points, while teammate Malek Chekir added 11 for his side. In Puerto Rico, Ángel Pérez was once again the most prolific scorer with 12 kills.

Brazil 3, Egypt 0
Brazil stomped over Egypt in the final match of Pool G, achieving not only a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-14, 25-20) but also the top spot of the pool. Only two players scored in double numbers in the game: Brazil's Jonatas Cardoso emerged as the top scorer with 15 points, while Egypt's Marawan Mohamed charted 10. Brazil held the lead in the blocking department by a 10-4 margin.

Pool H

Korea 3, United States 2
In their fourth five-setter in the tournament, Korea snapped its losing streak by beating USA (25-20, 20-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-11). Nevertheless, the Korean side will have to settle for the dispute of the 13th place, while USA's fate was clinging of the result between Russia and the already qualified Iran. Korea's Gyeong-Bok Na notched the award of top scorer for fourth time in a row, in this case with 23 points. Teammates Myung-Geun Song and Jun-Young Kim finished in 17 and 16 kills. On the losing side, Aaron Russell, Matthew Tarantino and Nikola Antonijevic lined up with 16, 14 and 12 points respectively.

Iran 3, Russia 0
Iran crushed Russia's hopes to be in the semifinals for places 9-12 with a 3-0 defeat (25-12, 26-24, 25-20) that elevated the USA into the top four teams of the bottom half. Iran will then face Egypt and the Americans will meet Brazil in the main stage for Saturday's action in Almirante Brown. Iranians Pourya Fayazi and Javad Hosseinabadi shone with 18 points apiece, while partner Shahab Ahmadi earned 10 tallies. The same score had Russia's captain Vladimir Manerov, the only Soviet in double numbers.

Highest Scorer by Day
Day 1 (August 19): 29 points by Gonzalo Lapera (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Bulgaria
Day 2 (August 20): 32 points by Yordan Bisset (Cuba) in the 3-2 victory over Brazil
Day 3 (August 21): 30 points by Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-0 victory over United States
Day 4 (August 24): 32 points by Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Serbia
Day 5 (August 25): 27 points by Lazaro Fundora (Cuba) in the 3-1 loss to Serbia
Day 6 (August 26): 29 points by Lazaro Fundora (Cuba) in the 3-1 victory over Argentina 

Top Scoring Performances

32 – Yordan Bisset (Cuba) in the 3-2 victory over Brazil on August 20
32 – Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Serbia on August 24
30 – Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-0 victory over United States on August 21
29 – Gonzalo Lapera (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Bulgaria on August 19
29 – Uros Kovacevic (Serbia) in the 3-1 loss to Iran on August 20
29 – Gonzalo Quiroga (Argentina) in the 3-1 victory over China on August 25
29 – LazaroFundora (Cuba) in the 3-1 victory over Argentina on August 26

Top Blocking Performances

11- Zhejia Zhang (China) in the 3-2 victory over Russia on August 21
8 – Petar Nenkov (Bulgaria) in the 3-2 victory over Argentina on August 19
7 – Matthew Tarrantino (United States) in the 3-2 victory over Egypt on August 19
7 – Jhon Wendt (France) in the 3-1 victory over Greece on August 24
7 – Uros Kovacevic (Serbia) in the 3-1 victory over Cuba on August 25
7 – Zhejia Zhang (China) in the 3-1 loss to Argentina on August 25

Top Service Ace Performances

5 – Thiago Veloso (Brazil) in the 3-2 victory over Korea on August 19
5 – Yordan Bisset (Cuba) in the 3-2 victory over Brazil on August 20
5 – Gonzalo Lapera (Argentina) in the 3-1 victory over China on August 25
4 – Na Gyeong-Bok (Korea) in the 3-2 loss to Brazil on August 19
4 – Aaron Russell (United States) in the 3-2 victory over Egypt on August 19
4 – Milad Ebadipour (Iran) in the 3-1 victory over Serbia on August 20
4 – Kasandros Stingas (Greece) in the 3-0 victory over China on August 20
4 – Yordan Bisset (Cuba) in the 3-2 victory over China on August 24
4 – Sinisa Zarkovic (Serbia) in the 3-1 victory over China on August 26

Top Set Score

36-34 (Egypt versus United States) in first round on August 19 in Almirante Brown
32-30 (Greece versus Russia) in first round on August 19 in Bahia Blanca
30-28 (Iran versus Serbia) in first round on August 20 in Bahia Blanca
30-28 (Spain versus Greece) in second round on August 26 in Bahia Blanca
29-27 (Egypt versus United States) in first round on August 19 in Almirante Brown
29-27 (Francia versus Korea) in first round on August 20 in Almirante Brown
29-27 (United States versus Bulgaria) in first round on August 20 in Almirante Brown