Italy, the Chinese Taipei, Argentina and Spain win tie-breakers and make it to the semis

There was no shortage of excitement in the quarterfinals of the 2024 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship as each of the four duels held in Sofia on Thursday needed a tie-breaker to determine which national team would advance to the semifinals. In the end, Italy, the Chinese Taipei, Argentina and Spain claimed the four spots and will appear in the medal rounds.

The two semifinal duels will be held on Friday, with Italy and the Chinese Taipei meeting earlier, at 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT), and Argentina and Spain facing each other later, at 20:00 local time (17:00 GMT). The bronze and gold medal matches will be held on Saturday, with the same start times.

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The Italians were the first to secure their spot among the four best teams in the tournament. They made it past Iran in the quarterfinals in dramatic fashion, trailing 23-20 in the fourth set and saving two match points to produce a 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 21-25, 27-25, 15-9) victory.

Captain and outside hitter Manuel Zlatanov had an excellent match, leading the team with 25 points (22 kills, two blocks, one ace), ten more than opposite Federico Argano, who tallied 12 kills, two blocks and one ace. Outside hitter Raouf Khoshhaldashliboroun was Iran’s leading scorer with 15 points.

“I am so excited and so happy,” Zlatanov told the FIVB. “I am so proud of this group because we were 23-20 down, but we never gave up. We wanted to go to the semifinals. I want to try to win this World Championship and I will give my all for that. Now we need to think about the semifinal tomorrow.”

The Chinese Taipei played in the last match of the day and prevailed over Brazil in a match of tight margins, winning 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 15-13) to represent Asia in the semifinals.

Opposite Huang Pin-Yen was again the team’s top scorer with 31 points (29 kills, one block, one ace) – he was helped by outside hitters Pan Shang-Yu and Tsai Tung-Cheng, who registered 17 and 15, respectively. Brazil had the match’s top scorer in opposite Theo Schrank, who delivered 32 points (31 kills, one block), and got another 24 (21 kills, two aces, one block) from outside hitter Lucas Carvalho.

FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship: match schedule and results

Argentina also needed five sets to make it past the quarterfinals, besting Egypt 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-9) in a match with several ups and downs from both teams.

Captain Henry Sinner and outside hitter Tomas Omarini, who came off the bench in the second set, split Argentina’s scoring load, with each of them contributing 18 points. Egypt got 17 points from outside hitter Zeyad Ghonim and another 16 from opposite Mostafa Tayea.

“I don’t know how to express how I am feeling, it’s amazing,” said Argentina’s opposite Agustin Boeri. “It was a very difficult match. Egypt has a very good team, but we won and that’s what’s important. We were united on the court and that’s what helped us win.”

The fourth quarterfinal saw Spain come from behind to overcome Belgium 3-2 (22-25, 25-11, 27-25, 20-25, 17-15) in an all-European encounter.

Outside hitter Rafael Tugores had an enormous performance, leading the Spanish to victory with an impressive 30 points (23 kills, four aces, three blocks) – opposite César Irache added another 15. Belgium got 19 points from outside hitter Evan Dubru and another 17 from middle blocker Tuur Vanbroekhoven.

“It was a very tough match, but we got the result we wanted, which was qualifying for the semifinals,” Tugores reacted. “I’m very happy with the work we’ve been doing here. I was happy I could help the team score points, but this was a team victory as everyone did their part really well.

Thursday’s schedule in Sofia also had four matches in playoffs from 9^th to 16^th place, with Mexico beating Chile 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-20), Cuba overcoming Tunisia 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-21), Libya downing Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-13) and Bulgaria getting a forfeit win over Uzbekistan.

On Friday, six other matches will be held besides the semifinals – two in the playoffs from 5^th-8^th, two in the playoffs from 9^th-12^th and another three in the playoffs from 13^th-16^th.

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