Year in Review: China and Italy crowned first ever U17 world champions

China triumphed as the first ever U17 volleyball world champions for girls and Italy did the same on the boys’ side. The inaugural FIVB Volleyball U17 World Championships were held in August 2024 in the Peruvian capital Lima and the Bulgarian capital Sofia, respectively. Japan and Italy won the silver and the bronze medals in the girls’ competition, while Argentina and Chinese Taipei completed the podium of the boys’ tournament.

FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship

China completely dominated the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship in Lima. They cruised through the tournament in an emphatic manner, dropping only a set in the seven matches played on the way to the historic title. In their pool, they shut out Thailand and Ecuador, and beat Turkiye by 3-1 in between. Then they swept their eighthfinal against Croatia and their quarterfinal against Mexico to reach the last four of the competition.

In an all-Asian semifinal, China mastered a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19) victory over Chinese Taipei and continued their quest to the crown with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-18) win in the all-Asian final against Japan, played on August 24 in front of nearly 5,700 fans at the Coliseo Eduardo Dibos in the Peruvian capital.

“It was a tough match!” said China’s captain, best scorer of the final and tournament MVP Yang Shuming. "I am very excited because it's the first world championship! China is a world power and I dream of being an Olympic champion one day!”

Japan also reached the final undefeated, winning all six of their matches by 3-0 or 3-1. In the semifinals, they celebrated a 3-1 (25-17, 25-11, 20-25, 25-22) victory over Italy.

Italy bounced back in the third place match against Chinese Taipei to produce a 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22) win and snatch the bronze.

Brazil, hosts Peru, Turkiye, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Thailand, Croatia, Canada, Egypt, Dominican Republic and Ecuador completed the final standings, occupying the places from fifth to 16^th in that order.

Yang Shuming was recognized as the Most Valuable Player of the U17 World Championship. For the talented young opposite it was the second MVP award this year. Earlier in the summer, when she was still just 15 years old, Yang Shuming also earned the highest individual honour at the AVC U18 Women’s Volleyball Asian Championship in Thailand. Yang also led a line-up of seven stars in the making, who were honoured on the U17 World Championship Dream Team:

Best Setter: Zhang Zixuan (China)
Best Opposite: Yang Shuming (China)
Best Outside Hitters: Saya Nakayama (Japan) and Ludovica Tosini (Italy)
Best Middle Blockers: Chen Xiaohui (China) and Alice Guerra (Italy)
Best Libero: Kokoro Semba (Japan)

FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship: all results

FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship

Italy also went through the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship in Sofia undefeated in seven matches played, but their road was a lot bumpier as they had to survive a couple of dramatic five-setters on the way to the inaugural crown. In their pool, the southern European team beat Cuba in four sets, Puerto Rico in straight sets and Argentina in four sets. They shut out Mexico in the eighthfinals, but in their quarterfinal, they had to come back from a set down twice before overcoming Iran’s resistance in the tie-breaker.

Italy swept one of the semifinals, 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-18) against Chinese Taipei, but a real drama unfolded when they met Argentina again in the gold medal showdown. The Italian hopefuls earned the historic trophy with a phenomenal comeback from two sets down and after denying several opponent match points in the fourth. After losing the first two sets of the thrilling final, fit for the historic occasion, the European team managed to win the third, but in the fourth, the South Americans regained control and opened a four-point gap. The Italians did not give up and caught up with their opponents, who still managed to reach the first match point at 24-23. Italy denied them six of those, wasting two set points of their own in the process, before finally taking the nail-biting set at 33-31. Riding the momentum, Italy cruised on to a 3-2 (23-25, 17-25, 25-22, 33-31, 15-9) victory.

Argentina had to persevere through five-set battles in their last three matches of the tournament. After overcoming a hard-fighting Egypt in the quarterfinals, they achieved a 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 33-35, 25-18, 15-10) semifinal victory over Spain.

Just a week after their female compatriots finished fourth at the girls’ event, Chinese Taipei’s boys did one better and climbed the historic podium with the bronze medals. In the third place match, they overcame Spain’s resistance on the way to a hard-fought 3-2 (25-17, 16-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12) victory.

The places from fifth to 16^th in the final standings were taken by Iran, Belgium, Egypt, Brazil, hosts Bulgaria, Cuba, Libya, Mexico, Tunisia, Chile, Puerto Rico and Uzbekistan, in that order.

Italy’s outside hitter and captain Manuel Zlatanov was named MVP of the tournament. He also led a line-up of seven stars in the making, who were recognized on the Dream Team:

Best Setter: Pietro Valgiovio (Italy)
Best Opposite: Federico Argano (Italy)
Best Outside Hitters: Manuel Zlatanov (Italy) and Huang Pin-Yen (Chinese Taipei)
Best Middle Blockers: Ivan Pavon (Argentina) and Martino Bigozzi (Italy)
Best Libero: Valentin Yapura (Argentina)

“I am so proud of this group! We suffered through the final match and never gave up,” Zlatanov said. “I love this team and this gold medal is perfect for it. The MVP award is just a bonus to this gold medal, which is what I really wanted. The whole squad helped me earn this award.”

FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship: all results

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