Brazil punch ticket to Final Four Round

Lodz and Katowice, Poland, September 17, 2014 – Three-time defending champions and top world-ranked Brazil beat reigning Olympic champions Russia on Wednesday to become the first team with a granted spot in the semifinals of the 2014 FIVB Men’s World Championship.

Losers in a grueling five-set battle against hosts Poland the night before, the team of Bernardo Rezende came back to take a 25-22, 25-20, 25-21 victory over the side coached by Andrey Voronkov.

Brazil finished Pool H with 4 points from a 1-1 win-loss record to secure the ticket to the Final Four. Russia (0-1, 0 points) take on Poland (1-0, 2) at Atlas Arena in Lodz on Thursday.

It was the fourth consecutive victory of Brazil over Russia, including twice in this tournament. Russia had never lost four matches in a row against any opponent.

In the other match of Wednesday in Katowice, Germany returned to the winning way by stomping Iran in straight sets 25-15, 25-21, 21-19 on the shoulders of star player Gyorgy Grozer who displayed a superb overall performance.

Germany concluded Pool G with 3 points and a 1-1 win-loss record. Iran (0-0, 0 points) challenge France (1-0, 3) on Thursday at Spodek Arena in Katowice.

Results - September 17, 2014

          Match        Match results    Match player rating
095    GER-IRI       3-0                       View
096    BRA-RUS     3-0                      View

Brazil 3, Russia 0

Brazil swept Russia 25-22, 25-20, 25-21 to pull a comfortable victory that enables the South American side to continue their quest for an unprecedented fourth title in a row at the world championships.

Key points

• Russia lost three consecutive matches against Czechoslovakia, Poland and Italy
• Brazil have won the last four world championship matches with Russia
• Russia defeated Brazil 3-2 for the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics

Ricardo Lucarelli Santos and Wallace De Souza led Brazil with 15 and 12 points, respectively, with both showing excellent average with their swings. Santos scored with 14 of 27 (51.8 %) and Souza with 12 of 22 (54.5 %). Nikolay Pavlov and Dmitriy Muserskiy had 12 and 11, respectively, for the losers.

Germany 3, Iran 0

Germany relied on a masterful performance by Gyorgy Grozer who finished with 22 points, including four bombs from the service line and one block, to beat Iran 25-15, 25-21, 21-19.

Key points

•It was the first match between the two teams in world championships
• Germany have not lost back-to-back matches in the tournament
•It was the third victory of Germany over Asian team in the tournament

En route to his splendid night, Grozer produced an efficiency of 62.96 % with his killing attempts (17-of-27). Marcus Bohme and Denys Kaliberda contributed 8 and 7 points in the victory. Amir Ghafour finished with 9 points for Iran while Farhad Ghaemi, Seyed Mousavi and Mojatba Mirzajanpour had seven apiece.

The German team played exceptionally well at the net scoring with 12 blocks to 6 by their opponents and outserved the defeated side 8-2.