DAY ONE: BAJA CALIFORNIA WELCOME THE BEST TEAMS AS MEN'S U21 WCH BEGINS

Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico, September 11, 2015 - The FIVB Men's U21 World Championship was officially inaugurated with a ceremony at the High Performance Centre in the City of Tijuana.

In front of a crowded venue, the ball was set in play. FIVB Control Committee President Philip Berben of Belgium stated that the local organizing committee has worked hard to have a successful tournament.

On behalf of the state government, State Secretary, Francisco Rueda declared the tournament officially inaugurated, while the Ticuan Group performed some traditional Mexican dances on the court along with the Aguila del Sol Mariachi.

In opening day matches there were no surprises as Russia, the defending champions had a solid performance against Poland by winning 3-0.

Russia 3-0 Poland

Russia, the defending champions of the U21 category, opened their participation at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship with a 3-0 win over Poland (25-20, 25-23, 26-24).

Russia had  a solid performance by Dimitry Volkov who scored 17 points, while Denis Bogdan finished with 15 and aced 5 times. Alexander Kimerov also had a double digits match with 11 tallies, while Bartlomiej Lipinsky recorded 11 points, while Aleksandre Silwka and Pavel Halaba scored 10 apiece. 

Turkey 3-1 Canada

Turkey began their participation with a victory over Canada 3-1 (17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19) Yasin Aydin scored 15 points for Turkey to finish as top scorer, followed by captain Vahit Emre Savas and Cansin Ogbai Enaboifo, who tallied 14 each one, while Osman Cagatay Durmaz finished with 13. On the Canadian side Brandon Koppers closed with 20 units and captain Ryan Nickifor with 18, while Lucas Coleman registered 12, with three aces.

Italy 3-1 Slovenia

Italy had a solid comeback to get their first win of the competition in four sets against Slovenia. Scores were 22-25, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-20 in favor of the Italians with a great performance by Sebastiano Milan, who tallied 21 points. Also Marco Pierotti had a great match with 14 kills. For the Slovenian team, Stern Toncek was the top scorer with 17 points.

Brazil 3-0 Cuba

Brazil had great start after beating Cuba in three sets (25-21, 25-18, 25-15).  Douglas Souza contributed with his offensive game with a total of 13 points. Caio Oliveira also stood out with 6 points. On the Cuban side, Osmany Uriarte led his teams’ charts with a total of 10 points, followed by Miguel López with 6 power hits.

France 3-1 Japan

 France needed four sets to defeat Japan by scores of 25-23, 26-24, 22-25 and 25-21, to claim their first victory in Pool D. Timothée Carle guided the French Team by finishing as top scorer with 16 points. Carle and Joachim Panou showed their courage in front of the net.  Panou registered 15 tallies while Médéric Henry also contributed by scoring 11, despite the japanese blocking domination 15-9. Ataru Kumakura was the best offensive player for Japan with 15 points.

Argentina 3-2 USA

Argentina won against USA 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 15-10). Gaston Fernandez and Andrew Benesh finished as top scorers on each side of the net. Fernandez Scored 23 points for the South American team, the same as Benesh for USA. Argentina  showed a very agressive game with Brian Melgarejo who closed with 14 points, while Joaquin Gallego finished with 11. Fey Kuopono scored 13 points for the Americans and captain John Hatch tallied 12. 

Mexico 3-0 Egypt

Mexico opened with a victory in three sets over Egypt (25-17, 25-23 and 25-20). Alan Gabriel Martínez tallied 13 points for the locals while Luis Gerardo Bojórquez scored 9. Abdelrahman Abouelella and Saad Ahmed finished with 9 for Egypt. bando. Mexico got 31 points by opponent’s error and Egypt 27. 

China 3-1 Iran

China closed the first day of competition at the State Auditorium in Mexicali with a victory over Iran 3-1 (25-21, 25-14, 19-25, 25-21).  Libin Liu scored 19 points for China, while Guanhghui Yu tallied 12. For Iran Salim Cheperli and Amin Esmaeilnezhad scored 9 apiece.