Italy, Iran to clash for title

Italy and Iran are set to face off for the gold medals in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship 2019, being held in Bahrain. The Italians barged into the tournament final following a come-frombehind 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-22, 25-21) victory over Russia yesterday, while the Iranians booked their berth with a stunning 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-17) sweep of Brazil. Italy and Iran have been two of the best teams in the competition, although the Iranians were underdogs heading into their match-up with their Brazilian counterparts.

The title-decider today is scheduled to take place at 7pm at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa. It will be the final game of a packed schedule on the competition’s concluding day. All are welcome to attend. Entrance is free of charge. Prior to the gold medal contest, the match for third place will be held at 3pm at the same venue. The Russians and Brazilians will be looking to bounce back from their semi-final losses with a place on the podium at s take. Also today, final classification games will be played from 10am onwards. Among those matches will be Bahrain playing for seventh position against Korea, following the Bahrainis’ loss to China yesterday.

In the final four, Russia were the early aggressors in their match with Italy and they took the first set. Things changed quickly, however, once the Italians got into their groove and they strung together the next three sets for the resounding victory. The victors had the edge in attack (48-42) and block (12-11), while also being gifted 32 points on their opponents’ errors. Francesco Recine spearheaded Italy with 18 points in the game while Kristian Gamba added 15. Maksim Sapozhkov had 29 to lead Russia, but he alone could not lift them past their rivals. Italy head coach Monica Cresta said after their victory: “It’s a great feeling! I am happy for the players, they deserve this.

“Today, we also tried to think about victory, but we have to think about it tomorrow. The gold medal is something that we aim for all our life, because this moment may come only once in a lifetime.” In Iran’s triumph, they came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, and they never gave their opponents a chance to get into the fight. The Iranians were particularly dominant in serve, outscoring Brazil 9-0. They also were superior in attack (37- 30), block (5-3) and had more points on the opposing side’s errors (22-18). Porya Yali top scored for the victors with 18 points, while skipper Amirhossein Esfandiar added 14 and Morteza Sharifi 10. Brazil’s Victor Aleksander Almeida Cardoso was their only player in double-figures with 10 points.

Iran head coach Ataei Nouri Behrouz said: “This semi-final match is very difficult. The two teams are both strong. My players maintained good mentality in the match. They were able to utilise information about our tactics. They gave a very good performance, which made the other team commit many mistakes. “This is the first time for Iran to be in the final of the U21 group. I promise, tomorrow, we will all play good volleyball.” In the classification group for fifth to eighth, Bahrain lost to China 0-3 (23-35, 18-25, 18-25).

The Bahrainis had a solid start as they kept China within striking distance for much of the first set, but in the final two could not keep up. Chengcheng Xiu top scored for China with 14 points, while Dejun Zhai added 13. Bahrain team captain Mahmood Abdulhusain led his troops with 13 markers as the home team’s only player in double-figures. China coach Liu Hao commented: “Bahrain is a good team, and they gave us much pressure, especially in the first set. They defend very well. “All throughout this competition, our players’ abilities and technical skills have improved.

We became better as a team.” On his part, Abdulhusain said: “China is a good team, and one of the best in Asia. They play well. Meanwhile, we know we are a good team, but today we made mistakes. Our team needs to prepare better for this kind of situation so we can improve more.” In the same division, Argentina beat Korea 3-0 (29-27, 25-21, 25-21) and they will now meet the Chinese for fifth. Argentina coach Martin Lopez commented: “The strength of this team is that we can mostly change our play based on the strategy of our rivals.

We will be playing for the fifth place tomorrow, because we were able to strategize against some teams, while we failed with the others. This is also the reality of this team.” In the classification groups, Cuba will face the Czech Republic for ninth place overall. The Cubans defeated Canada 3-0 (25-19, 28-26, 25-19), while the Czechs needed to go the maximum to overcome fellow-European side Poland in a five-setter (25-20, 22-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-9).

Egypt set up a clash with fellow-Africans Tunisia for 13th place overall. The Egyptians defeated Morocco 3-1 (25-20, 18-25, 25-19, 25-22), while Tunisia overcame a tough Puerto Rico challenge 3-2 (25-22, 25-18, 23-25, 26-28, 15-12).