Playoff for places 5-8

CAIRO, Egypt – 29 Sept - Poland defeated Korea for fifth place and France beat Tunisia to take seventh place on Sunday at the 7th FIVB Boys’ Youth Volleyball World Championships being played here in the Egyptian capital. 

Poland’s 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 28-26, 25-21) victory came some of the way to soothing their disappointment of a crushing defeat at the hands of the big Iranians in the quarterfinals. 

“I am very happy that we made fifth place,” said Grzegorz Rys.

 “The Koreans played very well and it was a good match. It was our first experience playing against their very fast style of play.” 

The Koreans with their fleet-footed agility struck first, overrunning the Poles in the closing stages of the opening set for a confidence boosting 25-22 win. T

he Polish answer was swift and decisive. They leveled 1-1 by taking the second set 25-22 ahead of a battle for the all-important third that after furious exchanges of the lead in the last phase, finally fell the way of the Poles 28-26 to put them 2-1 up. 

Both teams went into the fourth match with determination, but two breakaways, one in the early phase and one later when Poland had a five-point advantage at 20-15 were decisive moments.

 The Koreans fought back but the final set went to Poland 25-21 to seal fifth place in the tournament. The French team also rallied from two disappointing previous matches to win the playoff for places 7-8 with a 3-1 (25-15, 29-27, 19-25, 25-200 victory against Tunisia. 

French coach Stephane Faure said it was important to go into the match hoping to make as few mistakes as possible. 

“We had two problems. One to overcome our two defeats and the other to try to make as few mistakes as possible. We knew the Tunisian team makes mistakes, and we knew we had to make less,” he said. 

France lost against the Koreans on Friday and had a tough match in the quarterfinals against host country Egypt. 

“That one was really tough for us, “ said French player Pascal Ragondet. “We are not used to playing in front of crowds like that.” 

Egypt’s matches have been played before enthusiastic and very vocal crowds. Brazil and Iran play for the title later on Sunday, while Egypt and Russia play for the bronze medal.

Results Sunday France def. Tunisia 3-1 (25-15, 29-27, 19-25, 25-20) Poland def. Korea 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 28-26, 25-21)

Final tournament rankings 5. Poland 6. Korea 7. France 8. Tunisia

Brazil and Iran to contest Sunday’s final

CAIRO, Egypt 29 Sept  – Passions ran high on center court at the 7th FIVB boys’ Youth Volleyball World Championships on Saturday night when hosts Egypt faced off with Brazil for the right to contest the finals on Sunday. 

But cheering and flag waving from supporters in the stadium was not enough to inspire the Egyptians and allow them to topple the mighty Brazilians, a team rich in both height and talent. Brazil took the match  3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-14) and now meets Iran in the final. 

Despite some fine shots from the Egyptians, well supported by the ecstatic crowd, the boys from Brazil locked them out of the points, sailing through the first set 25-14. 

The home team fared better in the second set, leveling at 14-all and assumed the lead for the first time at 15-14. They battled through the points but eventually went down 19-25 in the second set. 

The Egyptians again held a brief lead at 5-5 in the third set but Brazil turned up the heat and quickly charged to 18-10 before going on to wrap it up 25-14 to seal the match. Brazilian coach Percy Oncken chose to leave some of his stars on the bench, however, reserving them for Sunday’s final against Iran. 

Earlier in the evening the powerful Iranian team pulled off the second surprise in two days when they beat Russia in three straight sets 

The Russians, until now tipped as tournament favorite, rarely looked comfortable against the strong Iranian team and went down 3-0 (25-25, 25-20, 29-27). 

Together with Egypt, they now contest the bronze medal on Sunday. 

“I knew the weaknesses of the Russian team and we capitalized on them,” said Iranian coach Mostafa Karhaneh, mentioning especially their serving and receiving. 

Iran also knocked Poland out of the top rankings on Friday. 

In earlier action in Saturday’s playoffs for minor rankings Poland scored a 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-23) victory over Tunisia and Korea beat France 3-1 (18-25, 25-21,25-15, 25-21). 

The winner of Sunday’s match between Poland and Korea will finish fifth in the tournament, the loser in sixth place. Tunisia and France play off for places seven and eight. End

Results Saturday: Playoffs to contest positions 5-8 Poland def. Tunisia 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-23) Korea def. France 3-1 (18-25, 25-21,25-15, 25-21) Playoffs for positions 1-4 Iran def. Russia 3-0 (25-25, 25-20, 29-27) Brazil def. Egypt 3-0 (3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-14)

--- STOP PRESS ---

Brazil triumph at the Boys’ Youth Championships

CAIRO, Egypt 30 Sept - The boys from Brazil literally jumped for joy when they defeated Iran on Sunday in a sweeping 3-0 (25-16, 25-16 25-18) victory to take the gold medal in the 7th FIVB Boys’ Youth Volleyball World Championships.

It was a final where the finesse shown so ably by the Brazilian side during the championships won out over the tall and more solidly built Iranians.

The Iranians had caused an upset as they powered their way into the finals, dismissing respected teams Poland and Russia in the last stages of the competition. Iran started with a rush, driving the match forward to 11-10 before Brazil elegance slipped into top gear and allowed them to amass an increasing lead to take the first set in a confidence boosting 25-16.

Brazil took firm hold in the second set, upsetting the Iranians with varied and elegant shots that again gave them the set 25-16. Capitalizing on a slip of concentration by the Brazilians, the Iranians had a brief resurgence in the third set, trading the lead back and forth through the first half of the set. But the night belonged to Brazil and as the final point fell their way they broke into jubilant cheers and danced around the center court.

Earlier, deprived of a chance to play for the gold by being beaten by Iran in Saturday’s semifinals, Russia made no mistakes in securing the bronze medal, completely outclassing host country Egypt in a clear 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-22) victory in just 59 minutes.

“It was very hard to prepare the players psychologically after what happened (against Iran) yesterday,” said Andrei Smirnov, Russia’s coach.

“Today I fielded players who were well prepared to win.” And win they did.

Egypt played some courageous shots, all rewarded by the enthusiastic crowd, but they were no match for the Russians, who outclassed them all over the court.

Igor Kolodinsky was top scorer of the match, winning 17 points for the Russian side. Egypt was at their strongest in the third set, when they closed the gap to just 2 points at 24-22, only to give the match away by serving into the net.

Earlier Poland beat Korea for fifth place and France beat Tunisia for seventh.

Mohammad Soleimani of Iran was the tournament’s top scorer with 110.

Other awards were:

Best Attacker – Bruno Zanuto, Brazil

Best Blocker – Alexndre Abrossimov, Russia

Best Server – Abdallah Ahmed, Egypt

Best Digger – Kwak dong-Hyuk, Korea.

Best Setter – Seifeddine Lamjed, Tunisia.

Best Receiver – A.V. Farred Zarif, Iran

Final tournament rankings

1. Brazil

2. Iran

3. Russia

4. Egypt

5. Poland

6. Korea

7. France

8. Tunisia