Five-set semifinal battle puts Argentina against Italy in U17 world final

Italy and Argentina will meet in the gold medal showdown to determine who will be the historic first winner of the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship. On Friday, they beat Chinese Taipei and Spain, respectively, in the semifinals of the inaugural edition of the event, taking place in Sofia. Saturday’s final is set to start at 20:00 local time (17:00 UTC). Chinese Taipei and Spain will lock horns for the bronze at 17:00 (14:00).

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Semifinals 1 – 4: Argentina edge Spain in five-set drama

In Friday’s first semifinal, Italy found a way to stop the championship’s best scorer so far and pushed their way through to the final with a 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-18) shutout of Chinese Taipei. In the second set, the Asian team got close to changing the momentum in the match as they had a 23-21 lead, but the Europeans held up to make their way to a straight-set win with a solid effort on all counts, but particularly in serving (5-1 in aces) and in blocking (10-4 in stuffs). Their outside hitter and captain Manuel Zlatanov fired four of his team’s aces to finish with a match-high 19 points, while opposite Federico Argano added another 17, including three kill blocks. Chinese Taipei’s main striker Huang Pin-Yen, who is by far the best scorer of the championship so far, put away 14 points against Italy, his lowest score within a single match since the start of the tournament. This time, he shared the team’s leading scorer honours with middle blocker Pan Shang-Yu.

“I am so happy! We are in the final of the World Championship! There is nothing else I can say – I am so excited!” an elated Federico Argano told the FIVB. “Chinese Taipei are a very strong team and their number 11 (Huang Pin-Yen) had like a hundred and fifty points in the tournament, but we are good in block! It was crazy!”

In the most interesting match of the day, Argentina persevered through an epic five-set saga to down Spain in a 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 33-35, 25-18, 15-10) semifinal. The particularly dramatic third set lasted 40 minutes before one of the teams could edge forward. Outside Benjamin Flores led the winners with 26 points. His cross-court teammate Tomas Omarini added another 19, while opposite and captain Henry Sinner finished with 13. Spain’s opposite and captain Cesar Irache produced a match-high 28 points.

“It was a very difficult match, but we managed to win it”, said Flores. “Spain are a very good team too, but our attitude helped us a lot, and then, of course, the defence and the attack.”

Semifinals 5 – 8: 14-year-old Dubru powers Belgium towards fifth-place match with Iran

Iran and Belgium will meet in Saturday’s fifth place match at 14:00 (11:00). On Friday morning, the Asian team managed to outplay Brazil in three sets. After a landslide first part, the South Americans put on a battle, but Iran closed the match at 3-0 (25-9, 29-27, 25-15), with three players reaching the double digits – outside hitters Kamyab Abdollahifar with 16 and Mohammadraouf Khoshhaldashliboroun with 11, and middle blocker Armin Asiaei with 15.

Belgium came back from a set down to deliver a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-14) victory over Egypt. 14-year-old opposite Evan Dubru led the way with 22 points for the winners. Another four of his teammates reached the double digits as well. So did three Egyptian players, led by middle Ahmed Amer Abo Gabal with 16 points.

Saturday’s seventh place match between Brazil and Egypt will start at 16:00 (13:00).

Semifinals 9 – 12: Cuba and Bulgaria sweep their matches on way to ninth place final

Bulgaria and Cuba will meet in Saturday’s ninth-place match starting at 11:00 (08:00). On Friday, they achieved straight-set victories to stay on track for the ninth place. First, Cuba, led by outside Andy Marrero with 15 points, including four aces, managed a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-19) win over Libya. Then, the home team overcame a difficult first set against Mexico to cruise on to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-16) shutout. Bulgaria’s outside and captain Aleksandar Dobrev produced a match-high 17 points. Libya and Mexico will meet for the 11^th place at 13:00 (10:00) on Saturday.

Semifinals 13 – 16: Tunisia leave Puerto Rico without a game on Saturday

Tunisia achieved a 3-1 (19-25, 25-12, 27-25, 25-20) comeback victory over Puerto Rico on Friday and will meet Chile for the 13^th place on Saturday at 10:00 (07:00). Outside Omar Hfaiedh was the best scorer of the match with 23 points for the winners. Chile gained their spot in the 13^th place match on a forfeit win over no-show Uzbekistan. The competition is over for Puerto Rico, who will finish in 15^th place without play on Saturday.

FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship: schedule and results

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Top individual scoring performances
40 points - Huang Pin-Yen (Chinese Taipei) v Bulgaria on August 25
32 points - Theo da Silva Schrank (Brazil) v Chinese Taipei on August 29
31 points - Huang Pin-Yen (Chinese Taipei) v Brazil on August 29
30 points - Rafel Tugores (Spain) v Belgium on August 29
29 points - Huang Pin-Yen (Chinese Taipei) v Spain on August 26

Top individual blocking performances
8 kill blocks - Ahmed Amer Abo Gabal (Egypt) v Argentina on August 29
7 kill blocks - Jose Manuel Pastor (Spain) v Chinese Taipei on August 26
7 kill blocks - Dimitar Peychinov (Bulgaria) v Mexico on August 26
7 kill blocks - Martino Bigozzi (Italy) v Mexico on August 27
6 kill blocks - Bruno de Almeida Teixeira (Brazil) v Belgium on August 26
6 kill blocks - Victor Porto Sereno da Costa Pinto (Brazil) v Libya on August 27
6 kill blocks - Taha Mohseni Bababdani (Iran) v Chile on August 27
6 kill blocks - Yosdani Medina (Cuba) v Tunisia on August 29
6 kill blocks - Hugo Absil (Belgium) v Spain on August 29
6 kill blocks - Khaled Gritli (Tunisia) v Puerto Rico on August 30

Top individual serving performances
5 aces - Kamyab Abdollahifar (Iran) v Libya on August 24
5 aces - Mohammadraouf Khoshhaldashliboroun (Iran) v Chile on August 27
5 aces - Jannes Strobbe (Belgium) v Egypt on August 30
4 aces - Ahmed Amer Abo Gabal (Egypt) v Libya on August 25
4 aces - Muezbillah Balnnour (Libya) v Tunisia on August 26
4 aces - Aleksandar Dobrev (Bulgaria) v Argentina on August 27
4 aces - Rafel Tugores (Spain) v Belgium on August 29
4 aces - Andy Marrero (Cuba) v Libya on August 30
4 aces - Manuel Zlatanov (Italy) v Chinese Taipei on August 30

Top team blocking performances
20 kill blocks - Bulgaria v Mexico on August 26
19 kill blocks - Belgium v Spain on August 29
18 kill blocks - Egypt v Iran on August 26
16 kill blocks - Chinese Taipei v Spain on August 26
16 kill blocks - Argentina v Egypt on August 29

Top team serving performances
11 aces - Iran v Libya on August 24
10 aces - Iran v Tunisia on August 25
10 aces - Bulgaria v Argentina on August 27
10 aces - Iran v Chile on August 27

Highest scoring matches
229 points - Bulgaria v Chinese Taipei 3-2 (32-30, 21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-10) on August 25
224 points - Argentina v Spain 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 33-35, 25-18, 15-10) on August 30
219 points - Brazil v Chinese Taipei 2-3 (26-24, 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, 13-15) on August 29
215 points - Iran v Egypt 2-3 (19-25, 22-25, 25-19, 27-25, 13-15) on August 26
212 points - Spain v Cuba 3-2 (26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-10) on August 27
212 points - Belgium v Spain 2-3 (25-22, 11-25, 25-27, 25-20, 15-17) on August 29

Longest matches (combined set durations)
127 minutes - Italy v Iran on August 29
126 minutes - Argentina v Spain on August 30
125 minutes - Argentina v Egypt on August 29
124 minutes - Brazil v Chinese Taipei on August 29
121 minutes - Bulgaria v Chinese Taipei on August 25

Highest set scores
33-35 - Argentina v Spain third set on August 30
32-30 - Bulgaria v Chinese Taipei first set on August 25
30-28 - Iran v Libya third set on August 24
29-27 - Iran v Brazil second set on August 30
27-25 - Iran v Egypt fourth set on August 26
27-25 - Italy v Iran fourth set on August 29
25-27 - Belgium v Spain third set on August 29
27-25 - Tunisia v Puerto Rico third set on August 30

Longest sets
40 minutes - Argentina v Spain third set on August 30
33 minutes - Italy v Iran fourth set on August 29
32 minutes - Belgium v Spain third set on August 29
31 minutes - Iran v Egypt fourth set on August 26
31 minutes - Argentina v Egypt first set on August 29
31 minutes - Iran v Brazil second set on August 30

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