U.S. duo qualifies for Main Draw – 2011 FIVB Youth World Championship
The 10th edition of FIVB Youth World Championship is underway in Ugam, Croatia this week. The double-gender beach volleyball event welcomed 38 boys’ and 35 girls’ under-19 teams from 29 countries of the world.
The tournament is scheduled to run from June 22-26, 2011. The opening day of the tournament featured the qualification tournament and a total of 18 teams contested their game skills. The successful tandems joined the 24-team Main-Draw stage.
Nick Porterfield and Bennett Bird of U.S. were also among Main-Draw qualifiers. They overpowered duos from Kazakhstan and Austria in the Qualification Tournament on Wednesday, June 22 and advanced to the next round of the tournament.
According to the set formula of Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB), each team in the Qualification Tournament was supposed to appear in three matches. The American duo earned a bye in the first match, while edged out Kazak team in the second fixture.
In the last match of the day, they launched their authority on Austrian team and cruised past to Main-Draw.
Porterfield/Bird vs. Bogatu/Pustynnikov 2-1 (21-13, 19-21, and 15-8)
The U.S. team produced powerful serves and supplied plenty of power to their shots. Kazak side also seemed fully prepared for the competition. They received the ball with firm hands and returned it in American half without wasting any time.
Gradually, Porterfield and Bird brought more ferocity in attack and registered consecutive points. They picked up lead and maintained an upper-hand over competitors up till the end. First set was given in the favour of U.S. team.
After dropping the opening set, Kazak duo hit back aggressively. They hit the ball from different angles and directed it in gaps and corners. The pumped-up American duo resisted in full force and quickly it turned into a heated competition. The score shifted
up with close gap. Bogatu/Pustynnikov of Austria also remained remarkably consistent and equalled the game score by capturing second set.
Bird came strong on rivals in the third set and attacked like hungry wolf. He hit the ball with precision and accuracy, which perfectly landed in Austrian half. The better attack and defence by U.S. players enabled them to pull off success in third set.
This was how U.S. side claimed the match against team Kazakhstan.
U.S. vs. Austria 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, and 15-13)
In the third match, Porterfield and Bird outplayed Austria’s Anton Menner and Christoph Dressler. The Austrian team was comparatively better than the Kazak duo in the previous match. Menner was an expert hitter and he showed his tricks in the match. However,
Americans managed to open the match on a good note and claimed first set. Austrian team reacted angrily and reversed the same score in second set. The tie of 1-1 created a great suspense in the game. The 15-point golden set started out with an exchange of
strong pushes. Both sides demonstrated great game and jumped on every little opportunity. Austrian pair put up a great effort but dropped the last set with a narrow gap of two points, while U.S. team announced victory.
The pairing of Porterfield and Bird will now play in Pool I of Main-Draw. They will be challenged by Poland’s Maciej Kosiak and Lukasz Kaczmarek on Thursday. On the next day, American duo will put up against Austrian and Swiss teams. The success in Qualification
Tournament has a set a great tone for them to make further progress. It is likely they will be able to create a chance of celebration for their fans in the coming matches.
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