Asian classic between Japan and China in U17 world final

An Asian classic between Japan and China shaped up as the duel that will determine the historic first winner of the FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship as they beat Italy and Chinese Taipei, respectively, in Friday’s semifinals of the inaugural edition of the event in Lima. Saturday’s gold medal showdown is set to start at 19:30 local time (00:30 + 1 day UTC). Italy and Chinese Taipei will lock horns for the bronze at 13:30 (18:30).

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Semifinals 1 – 4: Japan overcome Italian block party

For the third time in the tournament Italy put up a great block party, raising 15 or more kill blocks in a single match, but that was not enough to overcome Japan in their semifinal encounter at the Coliseo Eduardo Dibos in the Peruvian capital on Friday. Japan achieved a 3-1 (25-17, 25-11, 20-25, 25-22) victory and secured a spot on the historic podium. The Asian team’s service pressure resulted in 11 aces, but that was only one of the elements that made the difference in the match. Japan also completely outplayed Italy in attack and made much fewer unforced errors. Their opposite Hikari Kudo led the team with 18 points, while the European squad’s outside hitter and captain Ludovica Tosini tallied a match-high 20 points. Italy’s middle blocker Sara Mori impressed with six stuffs during the match.

China produced a clean sweep of the other semifinal. They hammered out a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19) shutout of Chinese Taipei, outplaying the opponents in all scoring elements: 9-1 in kill blocks, 8-2 in aces, 15-24 in unforced errors and 34-33 in spike kills. China’s outside Sun Hongyun was the best scorer of the match with 13 points.

Semifinals 5 – 8: Hosts Peru to challenge Brazil for fifth place

Hosts Peru will try to get back at Brazil in Saturday’s fifth place match at 16:30 (21:30) after losing to them in straight sets in their pool-stage game on opening day. To qualify for that match, the home side delighted the thousands of fans on the stands at the Coliseo Eduardo Dibos with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21) victory over Türkiye on Friday. Peru’s 15-year-old outside and captain Ariana Vasquez led the team with a match-high 23 points.

Brazil bounced back from their quarterfinal loss to Chinese Taipei with a hard-fought 3-2 (20-25, 25-12, 24-26, 25-17, 15-9) win over Mexico. Their middle Mariana Gaviolle Medeiros raised six of the team’s 15 kill blocks towards the victory, while outside Eduarda Zeni topped the scorers’ chart with 18 points.

Saturday’s seventh place match between Türkiye and Mexico will start at 10:30 (15:30).

Semifinals 9 – 12: Fortes scores 28 to lead Argentina in five-set battle with Thailand

In another five-set battle, Argentina overcame Thailand’s resistance and qualified for Saturday’s ninth-place match against Puerto Rico at 18:00 (23:00). Producing the best individual scoring performance within a single match of the tournament so far, outside Justina Fortes contributed 28 points, all in attack, towards a 3-2 (15-25, 25-22, 11-25, 25-16, 15-9) victory. After a tight duel, Puerto Rico beat Croatia in straight sets, 3-0 (25-21, 30-28, 26-24). 14-year-old opposite Decelise Champion, with 18 points, once again led Puerto Rico’s scorers, while her 15-year-old Croatian counterpart Asja Zolota topped the match chart with 22 points. Croatia and Thailand will meet for the 11^th place at 15:00 (20:00) on Saturday.

Semifinals 13 – 16: Canada and Egypt celebrate first wins in Lima

Canada and Egypt will face each other for the 13^th place on Saturday at 12:00 (17:00) after celebrating their first wins of the tournament on Friday. The North Americans won the all-NORCECA clash with the Dominican Republic by 3-1 (26-24, 19-25, 25-21, 25-15) with the help of an impressive tournament-high 18 aces. Opposite Ana Stojanovic was the best scorer of the match with 16 points. Led by outside and captain Nour Awad Elsafy with 15 points, Egypt achieved a 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-20) shutout of Ecuador. The Dominican Republic and Ecuador will play for the 15^th place at 09:00 (14:00).

FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U17 World Championship: results and schedule

Top individual scoring performances
28 points - Justina Fortes (Argentina) v Thailand on August 23
27 points - Huang Yuexin (China) v Türkiye on August 18
26 points - Justina Fortes (Argentina) v Peru on August 20
24 points - Ariana Vasquez (Peru) v Dominican Republic on August 19
23 points - Hikari Kudo (Japan) v Peru on August 22
23 points - Franka Golemac (Croatia) v Dominican Republic on August 22
23 points - Ariana Vasquez (Peru) v Türkiye on August 23

Top individual blocking performances
9 kill blocks - Alessia Manda (Italy) v Mexico on August 17
7 kill blocks - Brenda Esquivel (Mexico) v Italy on August 17
6 kill blocks - Heloisa De Andrade Benvindo Silva (Brazil) v Peru on August 17
6 kill blocks - Sara Lulic (Croatia) v Chinese Taipei on August 18
6 kill blocks - Gianella Chanca (Peru) v Dominican Republic on August 19
6 kill blocks - Sara Mori (Italy) v Japan on August 23
6 kill blocks - Mariana Gaviolle Medeiros (Brazil) v Mexico on August 23

Top individual serving performances
8 aces - Zhang Zixuan (China) v Mexico on August 22
7 aces - Panthita Khongnok (Thailand) v Egypt on August 22
6 aces - Helena Cugno (Argentina) v Egypt on August 17
6 aces - Estel Santos (Dominican Republic) v Canada on August 17
6 aces - Ariana Vasquez (Peru) v Dominican Republic on August 19
6 aces - Kaho Yoritomi (Japan) v Ecuador on August 20

Top team blocking performances
22 kill blocks - Italy v Mexico on August 17
17 kill blocks - Brazil v Peru on August 17
16 kill blocks - Italy v Türkiye on August 22
15 kill blocks - Argentina v Mexico on August 18
15 kill blocks - Puerto Rico v Chinese Taipei on August 19
15 kill blocks - Italy v Japan on August 23
15 kill blocks - Brazil v Mexico on August 23

Top team serving performances
18 aces - Canada v Dominican Republic on August 23
15 aces - Mexico v Egypt on August 19
15 aces - China v Croatia on August 20
15 aces - Chinese Taipei v Brazil on August 22
14 aces - Croatia v Japan on August 19
14 aces - Thailand v Egypt on August 22

Highest scoring matches
209 points - Peru v Argentina 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13) on August 20
198 points - Mexico v Brazil 2-3 (25-20, 12-25, 26-24, 17-25, 9-15) on August 23
194 points - Italy v Mexico 3-2 (19-25, 17-25, 25-14, 25-19, 15-10) on August 17
188 points - Thailand v Argentina 2-3 (25-15, 22-25, 25-11, 16-25, 9-15) on August 23
187 points - Peru v Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-12, 25-19, 28-30, 25-23) on August 19

Longest matches (combined set durations)
127 minutes - Peru v Argentina on August 20
111 minutes - Peru v Dominican Republic on August 19
110 minutes - Mexico v Brazil on August 23
104 minutes - Türkiye v China on August 18
102 minutes - Italy v Mexico on August 17

Highest set scores
28-30 - Peru v Dominican Republic third set on August 19
30-28 - Puerto Rico v Croatia on August 23
26-28 - Türkiye v China third set on August 18
27-25 - Türkiye v Thailand second set on August 19

Longest sets
34 minutes - Argentina v Egypt first set on August 17
33 minutes - Egypt v Mexico first set on August 19
33 minutes - Peru v Dominican Republic third set on August 19
33 minutes - Puerto Rico v Croatia second set on August 23
31 minutes - Türkiye v China third set on August 18

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