Iran claims U19 gold medal

RIFFA, Bahrain, August 27, 2017 – Porya Yali’s sure-fire performance helped Iran to record a 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20) win over Russia in the gold medal match of the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship at the Isa City Sports Hall on Sunday.

Yali scored 29 points to lead all scorers, then Morteza Sharifi charted 19 points to guarantee the gold medal win for Iran. Maksim Sapozhkov, who came off the bench in the second set, top scored for Russia with 16 points.

Kento Miyaura led Japan to capture the bronze medal, following their 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18) win over Asian rivals Korea.

Miyaura top scored with 16 points, which he built from 13 attacks, one block and two service aces. Miyaura took care of the Japanese offence, while his team-mate Mahiro Saeki led the team in blocks with four blocks. Im Donghyeok and Lim Sungjin scored 15 points each for the losing side.

Hosts Bahrain bested Puerto Rico in a straight-sets match (25-20, 25-22, 25-23) to take 13th place. Husain Thamer and Mohamed Jasim were the host team’s top scorers, posting 16 points and 10 points respectively. Puerto Rico’s Pedro Molina led all scorers on the board with 18 points. 

USA staged a 3-0 win against Cuba (25-20, 25-19, 26-24) for a 15th-place finish. Captain Joel Schneidmiller scored 22 points to power USA’s offence with 17 attacks, four blocks and a service ace. Cuba’s Lazaro Yoelvis Brunet led his team in scoring with a total of 17 points in the match.