FIVB U21 Championships
- June 23-July 2, 2017
- Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Schedule/Results
Pool D
Japan 3, Egypt 1 (25-17, 17-25, 28-26, 25-23)
Brazil 3, China 0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-16)
Blocks were not enough to ensure victories in Pool D on Saturday as Japan overcame 18 Egyptian blocks and Brazil outdid eight by China.
Brazil now sits atop Pool D at 2-0, while China and Japan are 1-1 entering Sunday’s action. Brazil faces off with Japan, while China takes on Egypt in the pool finale.
Japan 3, Egypt 1
Egypt put up an amazing 18 blocks against Japan, but it was not enough to secure a victory in a match decided by just four points (95-91). Japan countered with 50 kills and nine aces, while also getting help from 32 Egyptian miscues
Egypt started slow, allowing Japan to take the 25-17 Set 1 win, but rebounded with a 25-17 win of its own. Despite a strong block by their Egyptian foes, Japan outlasted Egypt for a 28-26 Set 3 win and carried on behind Kenta Takanashi for the 25-23 finale victory.
“We achieved this together, however Takanashi played amazingly well today,” Japanese coach Fumitoshi Tunaga said. “We analyzed Egypt and knew we had to have more power in middle blockers and Takanashi did us proud.”
Kenyu Nakamoto accounted for a match-high 20 points, with 17 kills and three aces, while Kento Miyaura added 17 points, including 16 kills, and Takanashi chipped in 11 points, with nine kills and two blocks.
Four Egyptian players turned in double-figure point tallies. Omar Aly (15), Abdelrahman Seoudy (15) Mohamed Aly (11) and Youssef Hamdy Awad (10) made up the group. Seoudy put down a team-best 1s, while also adding three blocks. Omar added nine kills, three blocks and three aces, while Aly registered six blocks and four kills.
“Our players are tired at the moment,” Egypt coach Maged Mohamed said. “We are preparing to win tomorrow. It will a tough match, we play against China. The Asian teams have a very specific style: they move very fast and attack from on top of the net.”
Brazil 3, China 0
Victor Aleksander Almeida Cardoso notched 21 points and Felipe Moreira Roque chipped in 15 as Brazil dominated China in a sweep.
Roque scored eight points to help Brazil to a 25-16 Set 1 win. The Brazilians hit at a 60 percent clip in Set 2, holding off China for a 25-21 win. China was no match for Brazil in the final set, a 25-16 drubbing.
“We worked to win but you never know until the match is finished,” Brazilian coach Nery Pereira Tambeiro Jr., said. “We had many great points. However, we need to improve with our players that they don’t go after the ball all together.”
Brazil outdid China 45-30 in kills and 8-2 in aces, but was outblocked by the Chinese 8-7.
Cardoso tallied 18 kills and two blocks, while Roque added 11 kills, three aces and a block.
Zixuan Tao led China with 10 kills, including seven kills and two blocks. Yuantai Yu and Hongbin Jiang added nine and eight points respectively.
“Brazil is the best team and we did not play our best in this match,” Chinese coach Ju Genuin said. “Our team is younger and they are nervous.”
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