Cuba wins Pool E match of the FIVB Boy’s Youth World Championship - Volleyball news
A Pool E match of the FIVB Boy’s Youth World Championship had China and Cuba locking horns together on August 24 in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. The resulting competition was a thrilling display of volleyball skill that took five sets to reach its close. By
the time the day was done, Cuba was celebrating its third straight five set victory in the tournament.
The first set of the match did not favour the Chinese as they got accustomed to the courts while the Cubans ploughed on towards a comfortable win. However, the Chinese rebounded in the second set and equalised the match by sealing a win. The Cubans were
able to turn the tables again in the third set and smothered the Chinese. China did not take defeat too well and put up a great fight in the fourth set to take the match to a decisive fifth set.
After an intense competition, Cuba was able to lay their hands on the final set and win the match at the following final set scores: 25-18, 20-25, 25-14, 23-25 and 17-15.
The coach of the Chinese squad, Dong Ruijun, made the following comments after his team had won the match: “Congratulations to Cuba team, this match showed our normal kind of play. Cuba had a good performance and they were more focused than us. We could
not defend Cuba attacks in the back. Next match we will do our best to win.”
On the other hand, the Cuban coach Rodolfo Sanchez expressed himself at the press conference in these words: “Congratulations to China team. We had ups and downs during the match. For moments we played good but also made mistakes. We have to improve for
next match if we want to be in the top-4.”
The opening set saw the Cubans take the lead at 8-4 and extend it to 16-8. The Chinese could not do much except trial all the way through till the end at 25-18. The Chinese begun the second set with determination and got themselves the lead at 5-0 and were
still leading at 16-12.
The Cubans tried to close in the gap but had to give up the set at 20-25 to the Chinese. Cuba came out strong in the third set and got to its end in no time, sealing a win at 25-14. The second technical time out of the fourth set saw the Chinese leading
at 16-14 and they scrapped off a win at 25-23. The fifth set was competitive and got to a tie at 14 all however it was Cuban side that won the frame at 17-15.
The most points scored in the match were by the Cuban players Lazaro Fundora with 24 points where as the Chinese top scorer was Zhimin Leng with 17 points.
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