The winners of the two most recent editions, Italy and Iran, will go head to head for the crown at the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship in Bahrain on Sunday, in a remake of the 2019 five-set final, when the Asians took the title, also in Bahrain. The Europeans, on the other hand, are the defending champions from 2021. In Saturday’s semifinals in Manama, Italy edged Bulgaria in four sets. Then Iran did so against Argentina. Also on Sunday, Bulgaria and Argentina will battle for the bronze medals.
Men's U21 World Championship 2023
Double I’s on the crown as Italy and Iran advance to U21 final
Bulgaria and Argentina to battle for bronze
Published 07:45, 15 Jul 2023
Italian setter and captain Mattia Boninfante in action
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Defending U21 world champions Italy produced a upset of the silver medallists from the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship two years ago to advance to Sunday’s big final. The two southern European teams engaged in a fierce battle throughout the first three sets of the game. Italy had the lead for most of the first set, but with three points in a row at the end Bulgaria edged forward. Vice versa, the Bulgarians were well in control of the second set until 19-19, when the Italians took over and held up to level the match. Italy took the early lead in set three and allowed the opponents to catch up on multiple occasions, but this time they did not let them jump ahead. The fourth set was quite one-sided as Italy cruised to the victory.
The Italians outplayed the Bulgarians on all counts, except for blocking. Alessandro Bovolenta won the scoring race with Aleksandar Nikolov by 28 to 23 points. The Italian opposite’s tally included one ace, while the Bulgarian star outside hitter also had an ace in addition to two kill blocks. Bulgarian opposite Venislav Antov with 16 points and Italian outside Mattia Orioli with 14 were the other two players on the court to reach the double digits in scoring.
“It was such a tough match. We knew it would be and we are very happy with the win,” Bovolenta told Volleyball World after the game. “It was a very emotional match for us, knowing Italy won two years ago. I am so proud of my teammates and our staff for believing in us. Our fundamentals were great tonight - the blocking, the attack, the service... I tried to help my team as much as I could and we are so happy to be going to the final. We are now focused on tomorrow. Iran and Argentina are so good, both teams. We now wait to see whom we will play. Tomorrow we will fight like we did today.”
Iran’s setter Arshia Behnezhad in action
Iran won the last match of Saturday’s competition day to take on Italy on Sunday. The Asians came back from a set down to celebrate a 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-20) victory. At the end of a rollercoaster first set, Argentina won narrowly to edge forward in the score. Tough battles unfolded in the next two sets, with Iran prevailing to take the lead. In the fourth, they broke away after 5-5 and never looked back to snatch a spot in the final.
Iran were better than Argentina in attack and in serving, while the South Americans scored more blocking points and made fewer unforced errors than the opponents. Iran’s outside Poriya Hossein Khanzadeh Firouzjah scored half of his team’s eight aces and led the team’s blocking with two stuffs and the team’s offence with 19 spiking kills to top the scorers’ chart with a total of 25 points. Mobin Nasri Mastanabad and Amir Mohammad Golzadeh added 19 and 15 points, respectively, towards the win. Lucas Conde was Argentina’s most productive player with 16 points, including two aces and a block.
“We had a tough match tonight against Argentina, but we won it and we hope we can be just as successful in tomorrow’s final,” said Golzadeh. “We are so tired, but we will rest tonight and prepare our best tomorrow. We know enough about Italy. They are a very good team. We will have a hard match for sure, but we hope we can win and get the world championship title.”
