Brazil v Russia & Argentina v Cuba in Men's U23 Top Four

Cairo, Egypt, August 23, 2017 - Undefeatd Brazil meet defending champions Russia and Argentina take on Cuba as the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's U23 World Champioship comes down to the semifinals on Thursday after a day of intense action here on Wednesday in desperate bids by teams to stay alive in the competition.

In Pool A Cuba did away with Mexico 4-1 (15-7, 15-9, 24-26, 15-13, 15-11) to claim the second qualifying ticket behind Brazil who had secured their semifinal spot a day earlier. Brazil themselves, wrapped up their pool play obligations with a 4-0 (15-9, 15-12, 15-7, 16-14) sweep of Japan.

But hosts Egypt were the sensation of the day as they knocked Poland out of the competition 4-1 (15-13, 15-7, 32-30, 13-15, 17-15) and remained alive to play another day - for positions 5-8.

In Pool B Argentina dismissed China 4-0 (15-8, 15-9, 15-9, 15-9) to secure their own semifinal ticket, and then found themselves at the top of the standings (thus avoiding Brazil in the semifinals) after Russia lost to Iran 4-3 (15-11, 12-15, 10-15, 15-13, 13-15, 20-18, 15-11) - though the defending champions had already secured their presence in the top four after going 3-2 up.

All matches in Cairo are played under a new scoring system currently being tested: a best-of-seven, 15-point set format.

Poland, Turkey, Mexico and Algeria are all out of the tournament, as the final ranking begins to take shape:

9. Poland
-. Turkey
11. Mexico
-. Algeria

All matches are available to watch live or on demand on the FIVB YouTube Channel.

Summary Statistics - 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's U23 World Championship

Highest Scorer by Day
21 – Zhou Liying of China v Turkey on 18 August
29 – Hisham Ewais of Egypt v Cuba on 19 August
25 – Kenta Takanashi of Japan v Cuba on 20 August
23 – Kamil Semeniuk of Poland v Japan on 21 August
24 – Hisham Ewais of Egypt v Poland on 23 August

Top Scoring Performances
29 – Hisham Ewais of Egypt v Cuba on 19 August
25 – Kenta Takanashi of Japan v Cuba on 20 August
24 – Hisham Ewais of Egypt v Poland on 23 August
23 – Kamil Semeniuk of Poland v Japan on 21 August
22 – German Johansen of Argentina v Russia on 21 August

Top Individual Blocking Performances
6 – dogukan Ulu of Turkey v Algeria on 23 August
5 – Aleksei Kononov of Russia v Argentina on 21 August
5 – Ivan Iakovlev of Russia v Iran on 23 August
4 – ten players

Top Team Blocking Performances
16 – Russia v Iran on 23 August
14 – Russia v Argentina on 21 August
13 – Iran v Russia on 23 August
12 – Cuba v Egypt on 19 August
12 – Poland v Japan on 21 August
12 – Iran v Turkey on 21 August

Top Individual Serving Performances
3 – Romulo Silva of Brazil v Mexico on 18 August
3 – Sergei Pirainen of Russia v Algeria on 18 August
3 – Aleksei Kononov of Russia v Algeria on 18 August
3 – Masato Matsuoka of Japan v Mexico on 19 August
3 – Javad Karimisouchelmaei of Iran v China on 19 August
3 – Jakub Zwiech of Poland v Japan on 21 August

Top Team Serving Performances
11 – Egypt v Mexico on 21 August
10 – Brazil v Mexico on 18 August
9 – Russia v Algeria on 18 August
8 – China v Turkey on 18 August
7 – Poland v Mexico on 20 August

Highest Scoring Sets
32-30 Egypt v Poland (3rd set) on 23 August
26-24 Mexico v Cuba (3rd set) on 23 August
22-20 Brazil v Poland (2nd set) on 19 August
22-20 Brazil v Poland (3rd set) on 19 August
20-18 Egypt v Mexico (5th set) on 21 August
20-18 Iran v Russia (6th set) on 23 August

Highest Scoring Matches
198 – Iran v Russia 4-3 (15-11, 12-15, 10-15, 15-13, 13-15, 20-18, 15-11) on 23 August
189 – Russia v Argentina 4-3 (11-15, 15-12, 13-15, 15-13, 8-15, 15-12, 16-14) on 21 August
187 – China v Turkey 4-3 (19-17, 12-15, 11-15, 15-8, 15-10, 10-15, 15-10) on 18 August
184 – Brazil v Cuba 4-3 (13-15, 15-13, 1115, 11-15, 15-11, 15-8, 15-12) on 21 August
180 – Egypt v Japan 4-3 (15-10, 15-13, 12-15, 15-8, 9-15, 13-15, 15-10) on 18 August
180 – Cuba v Japan 4-2 (15-13 19-17, 14-16, 13-15, 16-14, 15-13) on 20 August
172 – Egypt v Poland 4-1 (15-13, 15-7, 32-30, 13-15, 17-15) on 23 August