Reigning world champions Sir Sicoma Perugia had a strong debut in the 2023 FIVB Men’s Volleyball Club World Championship and proved they are determined to defend the title they won last year.

Playing at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium, in Bengaluru, India, on Thursday, the Italian giants topped Brazil’s Itambé Minas and kept all three Pool A teams alive in the race for the two spots in the semifinals. In Pool B, Brazil’s Sada Cruzeiro Vôlei defeated the Suntory Sunbirds in their first match in the tournament, but the Japanese still became the first team guaranteed in the next round.

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The leaders of the Italian SuperLega Credem Banca, Perugia had a solid performance against Minas, controlling the match from start to finish to produce a hassle-free 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-22) victory in their first Pool A duel.

"The first match of every event is always difficult, but I think we approached it really well," said head coach Angelo Lorenzetti. "We did a good job with our blocking and our side out and had some difficult moments when our serve wasn't as effective. We didn't make a lot of errors and that gives us confidence for the next match."

Perugia kept Polish superstar Wilfredo Leon on the bench during the entire match, but the team’s outside hitter duo of Polish Kamil Semeniuk and Ukrainian Oley Plotnytskiy got the job done with 11 and eight points, respectively. Their two middles, Brazilian Flavio Gualberto and Argentinean Sebastian Solé contributed nine and eight points, respectively.

Minas had the match’s top scorer in outside hitter Paulo Vinicios Ferreira, who produced 17 points (12 kills, four aces, one block), while Cuban opposite Michael Sanchez also got to double digits with ten.

The victory took Perugia to the top of the standings with the same three points as Minas - if they defeat India’s Ahmedabad Defenders on Friday at 20:30 local time (15:00 GMT), Italians and Brazilians will advance to the semifinals. If the Indians cause an upset, the decision will be down to tie-breakers any outcome will be possible.

FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship - Match Schedule and Results

Sunbirds fall, but advance

The situation in Pool B is a little bit simpler after the second day of action in Bengaluru as, with the point earned in their 3-2 (25-21, 31-29, 28-30, 22-25, 15-12) loss to Sada, the Sunbirds got to four and are confirmed among the two top teams in the pool at the conclusion of the first round.

With that, the duel between Sada and Türkiye’s Halkbank Spor Kulübü, on Friday, at 17:00 local time (11:30 GMT), will determine the second team to advance – with two points, Sada will progress if they win at least two sets, while Halkbank, who didn’t get any points in their opening match against the Japanese, need to win 3-0 or 3-1 to get all three and pass the Brazilians.

Cuban outside hitter Miguel Angel López was pivotal in Sada’s victory against the Sunbirds, becoming the first player to score 30 or more points at the Club World Championship with a total output of 31 (27 kills, two aces, two blocks) – team captain and opposite Wallace de Souza added 22.

"It's a very difficult tournament and we can't let our focus go down," libero Alexandre Elias reflected. "Every point can make a difference here and we're glad we managed to win 3-2, we fought for it until the end. We have another very tough match on Friday and will be looking for another win."

The Sunbirds had a strong performance from star opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy, who left the court with 27 points (23 kills, four blocks), and also saw Cuban outside hitter Alain Junior ‘AJ’ De Armas tally 14 for their side.

The top two teams in each pool will advance to the semifinals, which will be played on Saturday in Bengaluru. The medal matches will end the event on Sunday.

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