Dubai: Defending champions Brazil were joined by Italy and Cuba in the winner’s bracket while Turkey stunned higher-ranked Argentina on the opening day of the FIVB Men’s U23 World Championship on Monday.
Brazil packed off Mexico 3-0 after Turkey had secured an upset 3-1 victory over Argentina and Italy had a good measure of Egypt before winning 3-1 at Al Nasr Club. European champions and early pre-tournament favourites Russia also got their campaign off to a slow start with a 3-1 win over African champions Tunisia in the opening match of the competition, while Cuba too emerged with a smooth 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-22) win over Asian runners-up South Korea.
Turkey’s Italian coach Emanuele Zanini was not exactly shocked with his team’s upset win over one of the pre-tournament favourites Argentina. “This was not an easy win for sure. I have a job to do and that is change the way people look at volleyball. Yes, Argentina were the favourites and they have a strong culture in the sport, but this is the day we were waiting for. With all due respect to Argentina who are ahead of us in the world rankings, we prepared to play them on our terms and it took us a good three to four months of preparation to reach here and achieve this win,” Zanini told Gulf News.
“It is never easy to start in any competition, and I am glad that we have the three points after our first win. We want to continue to improve our level. Our level of concentration varies and we need to work on this aspect. We also need some work on our serves and net play,” the Italian added.
Argentina coach Martin Lopez lamented the slow start against a very composed Turkish side. “We knew Turkey was a very good team with a pretty strong attack. On our part we failed to an extent in attack and we were unable to play the transition and high ball too well,” he said.
Brazil, meanwhile, got their title defence off to a winning start with a fluent 25-14, 25-15, 25-16 win against Mexico. It was a casual first set for the Brazilians – winners of last Sunday’s Pan-America Cup in Reno, US – as they kept things tight at the net to win it 25-14. In the second set, Mexico altered things a bit, but with Brazilian captain Thiago Veloso in full flow setting up Wagner Silva and Carlos Eduardo Filho Barreto on either side of the net the defending champions took the second and third sets 25-15, 25-16.
“We really did not have any expectations going into this match against Mexico as we didn’t know anything about them. So the best we could do was stay compact in attack and defence, and I am happy with the way in which we have started in this tournament,” Brazilian coach Roberley Leonaldo (Rubinho) said.
At Al Nasr Club, Cuba joined the winning ranks later in the evening with a swift 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-22) win over Asian runners-up South Korea to get their campaign off on a winning note.
