Bulgaria, Iran and Italy qualified for the semifinals of the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship in Bahrain on Wednesday. The last spot among the best four of the tournament in Manama will be decided in a direct clash between Argentina and Brazil on Thursday.

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Pool E

Bulgaria managed to get back at Poland for the defeat in the final of the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship two years ago for the second time this tournament and this time they stunned the reigning youth world champions in straight sets, 3-0 (25-18, 35-33, 25-18). The second set, however, offered an epic battle, in which plenty of set points were denied and wasted on both sides of the net before the southern Europeans could finally end it at 35-33. Bulgarian rising star Aleksandar Nikolov delivered a match-high 18 points, all in offence, towards the victory. Venislav Antov added another 17, including four blocks and two aces, while Georgi Tatarov impressed with six kill blocks towards a 13-point match tally. Polish opposite Aliaksei Nasevich finished with 15 points, including three blocks and an ace.

As Iran delivered a routine 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-19) shutout of Thailand in Wednesday’s second Pool E match, both the Iranians and the Bulgarians could celebrate as semifinalists, before their direct duel for the first place in the pool on Thursday. Iran made more unforced errors than Thailand, but other than that, they completely outplayed the opponents on all counts. However, Thailand’s Jakkrit Thanomnoi was the only player to reach the double digits in scoring. He finished with 11 points, including an ace and a block. Three players – Pourya Hossein Khanzadeh, Shayan Sepehri Fard and Mobin Nasri Mastanabad – led Iran with nine points each.

Pool F

In Wednesday’s first Pool D match, Italy got back at Brazil for losing their match of the first phase of the tournament and managed a 3-1 (25-23, 31-29, 18-25, 25-21) victory, which later on proved sufficient for advancement to the semifinals. Alessandro Bovolenta exploded with 35 points towards the victory. He spiked at a 63% success rate and added an ace to his impressive tally. His teammate Riccardo Iervolino added another 13 points, while Brazil’s most prolific player, middle blocker Thiery Oliveira Morais do Nascimento finished with 14.

In a nail-biting battle for first win in Pool E, Argentina came back from a set down twice against Belgium, to celebrate a 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 23-25, 28-26, 15-9) victory, which set up a direct head-to-head duel with South American archrivals Brazil on Thursday for the last vacancy in the semis. Opposite German Gomez was on fire, acing four times towards a 28-point match high, also including two kill blocks. Outside Pierre Perin was Belgium’s best scorer with 21 points, followed by opposite and captain Ferre Reggers with 19 points, including three aces.

2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship: full schedule and results

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