Dubai: Cuba, Iran and Turkey were the only three unbeaten teams midway through the second day of the second FIVB Men’s U-23 World Championship currently under way at Al Nasr and Al Ahli.
Cuba followed up with their opening day’s win over South Korea with an equally impressive 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-17) result against Egypt on Tuesday, while Iran — 3-0 winners against the hosts UAE in Monday’s final match — maintained their clean sheet with a well-contested 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-22) win over South Korea in the two early Pool A matches at Al Nasr.
They were most likely to be joined by either Russia or Brazil and Italy following the third and final match at the two venues later on Tuesday.
In Pool B action at the Al Ahli indoor hall, Turkey kept up the pressure for a spot in the semi-finals while following up on their shock 3-1 win over Argentina on the first day with another convincing 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-14) result over African champions Tunisia.
Argentina atoned for their slow start in this competition with a convincing 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-14) win to leave Mexico winless after two days of this eight-day event, while Iran fought back from a set down to secure a hard-fought victory.
There was no stopping Turkey as they continued to impress here in a star-studded pool that also includes defending champions Brazil and European champions Russia. After taking the first set 25-20, Turkey enjoyed a marginal 8-5 edge in the second only to see the Tunisians bounce back and draw level at 10-10 with Adam Oueslati coming up with an outstanding spike down the middle. But Turkey went into the second technical time-out with a 16-14 cushion to finally win the second set 25-22.
In the third set, Turkey was way ahead leading 8-3 at the first technical time-out and 16-8 at the second to eventually wrap up set and match 25-14. “We had issues in the first two sets, but luckily we were able to come through with the sets. In the third Tunisia showed signs of giving up and we went ahead and won rather easily in the end,” Turkey coach Emanuele Zanini told media.
“The game plan is simple for us. We need to play at a certain level and stay consistent so that we can continue progressing in our play as we face stronger teams like Brazil and Russia. This will be the key for us to climb to a higher level,” the Italian added.
“In the first set both teams were equal, but we made some mistakes in receiving and then in the second set we committed some mistakes on service. Our focus should be on our next match against Brazil,” Tunisia coach Moncef Belaiba explained.
“Though this is our second win it means we are one more step closer to our goal and that is the next match [against Mexico]. It’s always going to be step by step for us,” Turkey captain Burak Gungor said.
Mexican coach Juan Roberto was not too pleased with his team’s response. “Every coach has the desire to win, but I find my team lacking the attitude and effort at key moments of the match. That’s the situation we are in at the moment and we need to see how we can improve,” he said.