Press release

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 9, 2011 – Seven-time champions Russia and gold medal match’s first time visitors Argentina will be the stars of the show with the title in play in the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship at Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday afternoon.

Both contenders in last day’s main event scored 3-1 victories on Tuesday with Argentina first defeating United States 27-29, 28-26, 25-19, 25-20 and Russia then following with a dominating effort against Serbia 25-22, 25-15, 23-25, 25-13.

Winners of the editions of 1977, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1995, 1999 and 2005 –the first four under the Soviet Union flag- Russia will battle for its eighth gold medal starting at 4:00 p.m. The best finish ever for Argentina is a bronze medal in 2009 in Pune, India.

Serbia and the United States will clash for their first ever medal in the bronze match at 1:30 p.m. In two morning matches, India will play Spain for seventh place while hosts Brazil will dispute the fifth slot with Iran. In Niteroi’s matches, Germany plays Belgium for 9th place while Canada meets Japan to determine 11th position.

Semifinal Round

Argentina 3, United States 1

Top Youth and Junior world-ranked Argentina recovered from a slow start to clinch the first spot in the finals following a 3-1 (27-29, 28-26, 25-19, 25-20) victory over United States. By advancing to their first gold medal match in the history, Argentina surpassed their previous best result in the biennial event, a bronze medal earned in India in 2009. Like the Argentineans, the Americans had also achieved their best result ever, leaving behind the seventh place they have arrived on three occasions. Agustín Ramonda, who charted 20 points, led Argentina followed by Agustin Ramonda with 15. U.S. outside hitter Taylor Sander topped all the scorers with 25. The Americans gave away 37 points via unforced errors compared to 23 by Argentina.

Russia 3, Serbia 1

Russia scored a convincing 3-1 (25-22, 25-15, 23-25, 25-13) victory over Serbia and advanced to the title match against Argentina to be played on Wednesday. Russia used its traditional block power as the main weapon to overcome the Serbian side, as the winners scored an impressive 32 points through this element, 11 of them from Igor Filippov, compared to 8 by the defeated side. Russia used its traditional block power as the winners scored an impressive 32 points through this element -11 of them from Igor Filippov- compared to only 8 by the defeated side.

Semifinals 5-8 Places

Iran 3, India 0

Iran scored a 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-21) victory over India in the clash between Asian teams on Tuesday advancing to the 5th place match. As losing team, India now will play for 7th and 8th places. Iran held the advantage in attacks (46-30), blocks (9-4) and serves (5-2). Iran’s Amir Ghafour led the victory with a match-high 26 points while India’s T.D. Ravikumar finished with 12.

Brazil 3, Spain 1

In the last match of Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, hosts Brazil beat Spain in straight sets (25-20, 18-25, 25-20, 25-16) and now will play Iran in the match for fifth place. It marks the first time since 1991 -when finished fourth- and third overall (6th in 1985 and 1987) that Brazil is left out of the podium in the 16 editions of the event. Ricardo Lucarelli led Brazil with 18 points followed by Bernardo Reitz with 10. Francisco Ruiz (14), Jorge Almansa (14) and Borja Ruiz (10) were the best Spaniards.  

Semifinals 9-12 Places

Germany 3, Canada 1

Germany defeated Canada, 3-1 (16-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-18) in the semifinals for the ninth-place match. Germany’s Simon Hirsch had a match-high 24 points while Tom Strohbach added 12. Bradley Kufske led Canada with 17 points. Canada led Germany in aces (7-3) and blocks (10-9). Germany led in spikes (52-47) and also scored 27 points on Canada’s errors while giving up 21.

Belgium 3, Japan 0

Belgium defeated Japan, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-18) and earned a place in the ninth-place final against Germany. Belgium’s François Lecat led all scorers with 21 points. Taiki Tsuruda led Japan with 14 successful attacks. Belgium did a good job shutting down Japan’s leading scorer, Takashi Dekita, who was held to 10 points.

Finals 13-16 Places
 
Egypt 3, Puerto Rico 1

Egypt defeated Puerto Rico, 3-1 (17-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-21) and secured 15th place. The African side finished with a final overall record of 2-6 and Puerto Rico closed at 1-7. Egypt’s Moustafa Idris scored 17 points while Puerto Rico’s Steven Morales was the match’s leading scorer with 24 points. Egypt got a big help from their opponent, as they scored 33 points on Puerto Rico’s errors.

Bulgaria 3, Tunisia 0

Bulgaria scored a 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 25-17) victory over Tunisia and secured 13th place. The Bulgarians held a huge advantage in blocks (12-1) and also had the margin in serves (5-2). Nikolay Penchev and Ventsislav Trifonov each totaled 12 points for the winners while Mohamed Ben Abdallah finished with 11 for Tunisia, all in attacks.

Highest Scorer by Day
Day 1 (August 1): 31 points by Simon Hirsch (Germany) in the 3-1 loss to India
Day 2 (August 2): 47 points by Takashi Dekita (Japan) in the 3-2 victory over Bulgaria
Day 3 (August 3) 27 points by Steven Morales (Puerto Rico) in the 3-2 victory over Tunisia
Day 4 (August 5) 21 points by Racem Siala (Tunisia) in the 3-1 victory over Egypt
Day 5 (August 6) 30 points by Selvaprabhu Dhanabaln (India) in the 3-1 loss to Serbia
Day 6 (August 7) 26 points by Tommy Belisle (Canada) in the 3-1 victory over Tunisia
Day 7 (August 8) 30 points by Noah Marrero (Puerto Rico) in the 3-2 loss to Tunisia
Day 8 (August 9) 26 points by Amir Ghafour (Iran) in the 3-0 victory over India

Top Scoring Performances
47 – Takashi Dekita (Japan) in the 3-2 victory over Bulgaria on August 2
38 – Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) in the 3-2 victory over Iran on August 2
31 – Simon Hirsch (Germany) in the 3-1 loss to India on August 1
30 – Selvaprabhu Dhanabaln (India) in the 3-1 loss to Serbia on August 6
30 – Noah Marrero (Puerto Rico) in the 3-2 loss to Tunisia on August 8

Top Blocking Performances
11- Mohamed El Askolany (Egypt) in the 3-1 victory over Germany on August 2
11- Igor Filippov (Russia) in the 3-1 victory over Serbia on August 9
9 – G.R. Vaishnav (India) in the 3-1 loss to Serbia on August 6
8 – Lucas Van Berkel (Canada) in the 3-2 loss to Serbia on August 3
7 – Ventsislav Ragin (Bulgaria) in the 3-2 loss to Japan on August 2
7 – Igor Filippov (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over Spain on August 5
7 – Igor Filippov (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over Iran on August 6
7 – Ivan Castellani (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Serbia on August 7
7 – Mohamed Ayech (Tunisia) in the 3-2 win over Puerto Rico on August 8

Top Service Ace Performances

4 – Andrey Kolesnik (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over India on August 2
4 – Uros Kovacevic (Serbia) in the 3-2 victory over Iran on August 2
4 – Paul Sprung (Germany) in the 3-1 victory over Puerto Rico on August 5
3 – Andrey Kolesnik (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over Egypt on August 1
3 – Jorge Lopez (Puerto Rico) in the 3-1 loss to Argentina on August 1
3 – Hatem Obba (Tunisia) in the 3-1 loss to Spain on August 1
3 – Yamato Fushimi (Japan) in the 3-2 victory over Brazil on August 1
3 – Steve Morales (Puerto Rico) in the 3-2 victory over Tunisia on August 3
3 – Hatem Obba (Tunisia) in the 3-2 loss to Puerto Rico on August 3
3 – Dmitry Kovalev (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over Iran on August 6
3 -  Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) in the victory over India on August 6
3– Nicholas Hoag (Canada) in the victory over Egypt on August 6
3 –Ivan Castellani (Argentina) in the victory over Brazil on August 7

Highest Set Score
36-34 (India versus Brazil) in second round on August 7 in Rio de Janeiro
34-32 (Puerto Rico versus Germany) in second round on August 5 in Niteroi
33-31 (Japan versus Bulgaria) in first round on August 2 in Rio de Janeiro
30-28 (Serbia versus Iran) in first round on August 2 in Niteroi
30-28 (Spain versus United States) in second round August 6 in Rio de Janeiro