Russia
Just like their senior men's team the
Russian U19 Boy's team has been one of the
most dominant teams in the age group for
the past five years.
April's 25-19, 28-26, 25-15 triumph in
the U19 Boy's European Championship in
Croatia saw the Russian team claim their
third successive title and their fourth in
five tournaments.
The 3-0 defeat of Poland in the final
was an illustration of the gap between
Russia at the age group level and the
other European sides and recently they
have been able to translate that form onto
the world stage.
In 2001 in Egypt Russia finished third
behind Brazil and Iran but claimed the
Under-19 Boys World title in 1999 in Saudi
Arabia.
At the U19 Boy's European Championship
this year the Russian players dominated
the tournament awards with Pavel Kruglov
being voted as the Most Valuable Player of
the tournament while Roman Danilov was
named the best server, the best setter was
Sergei Grankine and Anton Bessonov was the
best receiver and will be definitely
players to watch at this year's U19 World
Championship.
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