2007 Men’s Junior World Championship
Casablanca & Rabat, Morocco
7 – 15 July 2007

Egypt and Morocco lost, USA stuns defending Champions Russia in straight sets

Casablanca, July 8, 2007 – In a day full of thrills, both African representatives the host Morocco and Egypt lost their second match in a raw in the second day of the 2007 Men’s Junior World Championship held at Casablanca and Rabat in Morocco, while the defending champions Russia lost against USA in the competition biggest surprise..

In Casablanca, hosts Morocco registered their second defeat in a row against Bulgaria in three sets (20-25, 19-25, 16-25). Bulgarian Tsvetan Sokolov was the best scorer of the match with 17 points. It was the shortest match of the championship so far, lasting just 70 minutes only. For Morocco Mohammed Alaoui was the main spiker with seven points.

The other Pool B match saw the Slovenian team victory fast and easy over Egypt in an hour in straight sets (25-18, 25-18, 25-13), to leave the Egyptians on the verge of elimination.

Defending champions Russia suffered an unexpected defeat in the hands of the USA on Day 2 of Pool B, at the 2007 Men's Junior World Championships, in Rabat, Morocco. After having barely edged past Egypt on the opening day, the USA overpowered Russia with a straight-set shutout, 3-0 (28-26, 25-22, 29-27). The USA managed to overcome the successful Russian blocking, with Mathew Anderson (14 points) and William Price (13) emerging top scorers from the winning side. The Russians, who conceded as many as 29 points from unforced errors, had Maxim Mikhaylov as their best scorer (14 points). The USA retains a perfect record in Pool B, with two victories in as many matches, and has climbed to the top of the standings. Russia is now 1-1.

In other action in Pool A, Norceca Champions and favorites Cuba are on the verge of being knocked out of the tournament after losing for the second successive time going down to Japan 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 17-25, 25-15, 15-12) in Pool A in Casablanca. The Cubans lost their opening match to Italy and must now beat Iran, Morocco and Bulgaria in their final effort to reach the next round. Japan had to fight hard to beat the World Junior bronze medalist 2005. The best scorer of the match was Cuban Yadier Sanchez Sierra with 23 points.

The second match in Pool A saw Iran clinch their second round spot by beating Italy in a thriller tie breaker 20-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-21, 21-19. Iran followed up their impressive straight-sets defeat of Bulgaria on Saturday by beating Italy 3-2 with almost two hours of electrifying volleyball. Iran improved their win-loss record to 2-0 and Italy slipped to 1-1.

Meanwhile, Brazil walked over Argentina in the South American classic in three sets (25-10, 25-18, 25-22). It was the first victory for Brazil in Pool B in two matches. For Argentina it was the first defeat in two matches. Both teams are 1-1, but the result has left the USA the sole undefeated team in the Pool after two days of play.