Men's U21 World Championship 2023

Poland and Brazil master their way to U21 Worlds’ fifth-place duel

Belgium and Thailand to meet for the seventh place in the final standings

Published 02:18, 15 Jul 2023

Poland (POL) vs. Belgium (BEL) men - Play Off 5-8 #5838000

Poland and Brazil will lock horns for the fifth place in the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship final standings. On Saturday in Bahrain, they mastered straight-set wins over Belgium and Thailand, respectively, and will meet each other in their last match of the Manama tournament on Sunday. Belgium and Thailand will also face each other in a duel for the seventh place.

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Poland were clearly the better team on the court during the first set of their playoff encounter in Belgium. In the second, they had to fight off all Belgian breakaway attempts until taking the lead for good after 13-13. The third set was by far the most competitive one, with the lead going back and forth to push the set to overtime. In the end, it was a victory for Poland. Blocking was the only element, at which the Belgians scored more points than their central European opponents. Opposite Aliaksei Nasevich was once again Poland’s leading scorer. He put away two aces and 12 spiking points towards a total tally of 14. Outside hitter Piotr Sliwka added another 11 points towards the victory. Belgium’s Basil Dermaux was the best scorer of the match with 16 points to his name.

Brazil (BRA) vs. Thailand (THA) men - Play Off 5-8 #5839737

Brazil’s Lima in offence

In a match without suspense, Brazil left few chances to Thailand and dominated convincingly in three sets on the way to a shutout. Only in terms of unforced errors, the Asians preformed better than the South Americans in this game. Brazil completely outspiked (48 to 26) and outserved (seven to one aces) Thailand to celebrate success. Their middle blocker Thiery Fellipe Oliveira Morais do Nascimento produced the match high of 14 points, including two aces and a block. Joao Vitor dos Santos Lima added another 12, while Jakkrit Thanomnoi was Thailand’s most prolific scorer with 11 points.