Czechia and Egypt claimed four-set victories in their playoff matches at the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship in Bahrain and will go against each other for the ninth place in the final standings on Sunday. The teams they beat in Manama on Saturday, India and Canada, will face off for the 11^th position.

When Czechia and Egypt met in a Pool H encounter on Thursday, the Europeans managed a 3-1 win. India and Canada, on the other hand, will meet for the third time this tournament. First, in a Pool C match of the first phase on Sunday, Canada claimed a four-set victory. Then, they took another one, also in four sets, in a Pool G game of the second phase on Wednesday.

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Czechia advanced to the match for the ninth place at Bahrain 2023 after a 3-1 (27-25, 23-35, 25-18, 25-17) victory over India on Saturday. The Czechs were trailing for most of the first set, but managed to recover from a four-point deficit to win it in the overtime. The Indians were well in control of the second set, but in the end they won it by the narrowest of margins to level the score. However, the Europeans completely dominated the next two sets to cruise on to victory, statistically outplaying the Asians in spiking, blocking and serving. Their opposite David Kollator was once again the best scorer of the match. He hammered four aces, raised three kill blocks and spiked 17 kills towards a 24-point match high. Middle blocker Tomas Bukacek put away five stuffs towards an 18-point tally. India’s most productive player Aman Kumar also finished with 18 points, including three aces.

In the first set of their game against Egypt, Canada recovered from a seven-point deficit to win in the overtime. In the second, Egypt prevailed to level up. The third went back and forth, but the Africans managed to come back from a three-point lag to edge forward, before dominating a one-sided fourth set to celebrate a 3-1 (25-27, 25-22, 25-23, 25-15) victory. Egypt’s opposite and captain Zyad Mohamed topped the scorers’ chart of the match on 21 points, including as many as five kill blocks and an ace. Outside Hamza Awad added another 19, including two blocks. Middle Abdelrahman Mohammed also impressed with five stuffs, to which he added two aces and six spikes towards a 13-point tally. On Canada’s side, opposite Brendan Mills finished with 19 points (four stuffs) and captain Jacob Sargent scored 12 time (two stuffs).

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

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