Passionate Yakovlev leads Russia to emotional victory

Brno / Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, June 27, 2017 – Russia’s coach Vladimir Khromenkov admitted that emotion was part of his strategy to beat Argentina at the start of the second stage of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship. Opposite Dmitry Yakovlev’s passionate performance resulted in 24 points and became Russia’s main weapon in the four-set victory over the South American squad in Brno. Poland, Cuba and Brazil are the other top-eight teams that started their quest to the semifinals in a winning fashion.

Two hard-fought five-setters marked the beginning of the battles in Pool E in Brno. Poland and Cuba celebrated their first wins in the pool – against China and Iran, respectively.

Once again, Bartosz Kwolek was the main engine of the well functioning Polish machine. With the help of five aces towards a total of 24 points from the prolific outside hitter, Poland managed to stay unbeaten, despite losing their first sets in the 3-2 (25-13, 18-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-8) victory over China in the opening match of Pool E in Brno.

Some fantastic blocking effort, led by Osniel Lazaro Melgarejo, Jose Israel Masso and Marlon Yang, set up the foundation of Cuba’s first win in Pool E. Cuba piled up as many as 17 kill blocks on the way to a 3-2 (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 13:25, 15-8) victory over Iran’s fighting squad, with Melgarejo topping the overall scorers’ chart of the match with 20 points.

 

Russia and Brazil made a great start of the second stage of the tournament. They emerged victorious from their four-set matches in Pool F on Tuesday, defeating Argentina and Canada, respectively.

With a very passionate performance by Dmitry Yakovlev, Russia achieved their fourth consecutive victory since the start of the World Championship in Brno. This time, the European giant lost a set against Argentina in the first match of Pool F competition, but persevered to claim a 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 27-29, 25-19) win. Russia’s opposite exploded with a 24-point contribution to the victory.

Felipe Moreira Roque was the main contributor to Brazil’s 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-23, 25-16) victory over Canada to wrap up the first competition day in Pool F. Canada’s Taryq Sani hammered out 22 points to top the scorers’ chart of the match, while Roque was the best scorer of the winning team with 19 points.

 

Egypt and Italy started well on the road to the ninth place, both earning straight-set victories against the Czech Republic and USA, respectively, in their first Pool G matches.

Better blocking and fewer unforced errors held the key to Italy’s shutout of USA. Italy’s Gabriele Di Martino and USA’s Brett Rosenmeier with 11 points each topped the scorers’ charts on the way to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23) final score.

Egypt managed to deliver a major upset for Czechia spoiling the home team’s debut in Ceske Budejovice with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22) shutout. Abdelrahman Seoudy led his team’s great blocking with four stuffs, while Omar Aly was the overall top scorer with 13 points. 

 

Pool H started off in Ceske Budejovice with two four-setters that brought victories to Turkey and Japan over Ukraine and Morocco, respectively.

Adis Lagumdzija added points on all counts for a total contribution of 21 to Turkey’s 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-20) come-from-behind victory over Ukraine in the all-European clash that got the Pool H battles in Ceske Budejovice started. 

Japan’s Kento Miyaura also scored 21 points for his team on the way to a 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21) win against Morocco.