Betim, Brazil, October 28, 2015 - After a thrilling Day 2, FIVB Men’s Club World Championship has already revealed three out of its four semifinal teams. Argentina’s UPCN San Juan downed Ahly Sporting Club of Egypt to make it forward and also gave the qualification to Iran’s Paykan Tehran, while hosts Sada Cruzeiro also grabbed a berth, even though they lost against Russian powerhouse Zenit Kazan in four sets.
On the opening shift, South American champions UPCN San Juan from Argentina delivered to Ahly Sporting Club of Egypt their second defeat in Brazilian soil, being a 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-21). Opposite Nikolay Uchikov (11 points), fellow Bulgarian Todor Aleksiev (10) and Serbia’s Petar Krsmanovic (10) got together as the only players in UPCN to reach double numbers.
“It wasn’t an easy game for us”, confessed Javier Filardi, UPCN San Juan captain. “We felt some anxiety as it was our first match of the competition, which it’s normal at a huge tournament like this. Luckily, we could recover during the game and get the win, which was a major goal for us”, he completed.
Later on, a delightful game was awarded to the nice crowd at Ginasio Divino Braga, although the result was not what they wanted. Zenit Kazan pulled out a hard-fought win over Sada Cruzeiro 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 25-20), but the consolation prize for the host team was a semifinal ticket, thanks to that set earned. On Kazan, Cuban star Wilfredo León played an astonishing 22-point game, reaching a tournament record so far.
After the game, captain Nikolay Apalikov tried to explain the low moments of Zenit Kazan: “This was our first official game of the season; that’s why during the game we made several errors. We must correct that aspect. On the next games we will aim to increase our level and play better volleyball.”
On Thursday, Zenit Kazan will have that chance to do better when they take on Capitanes de Arecibo at 5:10 PM (local) to decide their fate, while the already qualified Paykan Tehran and UPCN San Juan are scheduled to finish Pool B at 8:10 PM (local) and give final shape to the semifinals bracket in Betim.
Top Scorer by Day14 - Farhad Ghaemi of Paykan Tehran v Ahly Sporting Club on October 27
22 - Wilfredo León Venero of Zenit Kazan v Sada Cruzeiro on October 28
Top Scoring Performances22 - Wilfredo León Venero of Zenit Kazan v Sada Cruzeiro on October 28
14 - Farhad Ghaemi of Paykan Tehran v Ahly Sporting Club on October 27
14 - Ahmed El Kotb of Ahly Sporting Club v Paykan Tehran on October 27
13 - Ahmed El Kotb of Ahly Sporting Club v UPCN San Juan on October 28
13 - Matthew Anderson of Zenit Kazan v Sada Cruzeiro on October 28
13 - Wallace De Souza of Sada Cruzeiro v Zenit Kazan on October 28
Top Serving Performances3 - Farhad Ghaemi of Paykan Tehran v Ahly Sporting Club on October 27
3 - Isac Santos of Sada Cruzeiro v Capitanes de Arecibo on October 27
Top Team Serving Performances7 - Paykan Tehran v Ahly Sporting Club on October 27
5 - Sada Cruzeiro v Capitanes de Arecibo on October 27
Top Blocking Performances3 - Nikolay Nikolov of Paykan Tehran v Ahly Sporting Club on October 27
3 - Petar Krsmanovic of UPCN San Juan v Ahly Sporting Club on October 28
3 - Wilfredo León Venero of Zenit Kazan v Sada Cruzeiro on October 28
3 - Maxim Mikhaylov of Zenit Kazan v Sada Cruzeiro on October 28
3 - Eder Carbonera of Sada Cruzeiro v Zenit Kazan on October 28
Top Team Blocking Performances10 - UPCN San Juan v Ahly Sporting Club on October 28
10 - Zenit Kazan v Sada Cruzeiro on October 28
7 - Paykan Tehran v Ahly Sporting Club on October 27
7 - Sada Cruzeiro v Zenit Kazan on October 28
Highest Scoring Sets25-23 UPCN San Juan v Ahly Sporting Club (1st Set) on October 28
25-20 Paykan Tehran v Ahly Sporting Club (2nd Set) on October 27
25-20 Sada Cruzeiro v Capitanes de Arecibo (3rd set) on October 27
Highest Scoring Matches177 - Zenit Kazan d Sada Cruzeiro 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 25-20) on October 28
135 - UPCN San Juan d Ahly Sporting Club 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-21) on October 28
129 - Paykan Tehran d Ahly Sporting Club 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-15) on October 27