The elimination rounds of the 2023 FIVB Girls’ U19 Volleyball World Championship are now set after the pool play stage was completed on Sunday with 60 matches held over the course of six days in Osijek, Croatia, and Szeged, Hungary.

The Round of 16 will be held on Monday in both cities, while the eight teams that didn’t make it out of their pools, finishing fifth and sixth in their groups, will now compete in the playoffs for 17^th-24^th places.

The tournament is streamed live on the Volleyball World YouTube channel.

The eight Round of 16 duels will be Türkiye vs. Korea, the United States vs. the Dominican Republic, Croatia vs. Poland and Japan vs. Puerto Rico (in Osijek), China vs. Thailand, Italy vs. Egypt, Argentina vs. Brazil and Bulgaria vs. Hungary (in Szeged).

Hosted in Szeged, Pool A entered the last day of the pool stage with the four teams qualified for the Round of 16 already confirmed. Undefeated China topped fourth-placed Egypt 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-14) to confirm the top spot in the pool with 15 points from opposite Jiaqi Gao.

On the other matches of the pool on Sunday, second-placed Argentina defeated third-placed Hungary 3-2 (25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 15-25, 15-5) while fifth-placed Chile claimed their first win in the tournament, overcoming sixth-placed Cameroon 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-15).

In Pool B, in Osijek, the dispute was still open for two of the four spots in play and Puerto Rico topped Germany 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-15) to advance in third place and send the Europeans to fifth. Their victory also benefited the Dominican Republic, who got a forfeit win over Nigeria and advanced in fourth place.

“We are really happy about this win,” said outside hitter Mar Lopez Villanueva. “Thanks to this victory, we can advance to the next stage of the competition and we will give our best in the next matches. We know that all the teams here are very strong, but we will give everything on the court. We will fight for each point, for each rally. Our blocking efficiency was very important today, and, of course, keeping calm throughout the whole game.”

In the other match of the day, Türkiye defeated hosts Croatia 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18) to finish in first place – the Croatians were second.

2023 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U19 World Championship: Match Schedule and Results

Back in Szeged, Thailand claimed the last spot available in Pool C with their 3-1 (25-11, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14) win over sixth-placed Canada. They overcame competition from fifth-placed Peru, who fell to second-place Bulgaria 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-19).

Pool winners Italy claimed their fifth victory in the tournament by defeating third-placed Brazil 3-1 (25-27, 26-24, 25-23, 30-28).

Pool D had a direct battle between Korea and Serbia for the last spot in the playoffs. The Koreans did their homework, topping sixth-placed Mexico 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-22) and managed to finish fourth after Serbia fell to pool winners the United States 3-2 (25-15, 18-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-7) and ended in fifth place.

Opposite Eunji Shin led the Korean offense with 15 points, followed by outside hitter Jua Lee, who tallied 12. On the Mexican side, outside hitter Annie Ocampo had 13 points.

“All of our matches so far have been good ones,” commented middle blocker Kim Sebeen. “We are performing very well in reception, and also our attacks work out just fine. Doing well in these two elements has been crucial also in the matchup against Mexico today. However, we still need to work on our mindset and mental approach to the games

The other match of the pool had a 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-21) victory of second-placed Japan over third-placed Poland.

The tournament continues on Monday with the Round of 16 and will have one day off on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s quarterfinals, which will all be hosted in Osijek. The semifinals will be held on Thursday and the medal matches on Friday. Playoff matches will also be held in parallel to determine positions from 5^th to 24^th.

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