France's Antonin Rouzier increased his leading scoring points total to 161 after smashing 22 against Serbia on Saturday
Lodz, Poland, September 13, 2014 - France in Pool E and three-time defending champions Brazil and Olympic monarchs Russia in Pool F, all have clinched berths in the third round of the FIVB Men’s World Championship after victories scored in Saturday’s action of the quadrennial competition.
Sunday’s schedule features the decisive matches of Poland (14) against France, United States (13 points) versus Argentina and Iran (12) against Serbia in Pool E while Germany (12) challenge Canada (10) in Pool F to determine the last three teams advancing to the Final-Six phase of the 24-team tournament.
France incremented their points tally to 16 and a 5-1 win-loss record sparked by another outstanding performance from Antonino Rouzier, who scored 22 points in the 3-1 (25-27, 25-23, 25-23, 25-20) victory over Serbia.
Meanwhile, Poland needed 28 points from Mariusz Wlazly to capture a nail-biting win in five sets (25-17, 25-16, 24-26, 19-25, 16-14) over a gritty Iran improving to 14 points to go with a 5-1 mark.
On the other hand, the first and second world-ranked teams cruised to straight-set victories to assure themselves of spots in the exclusive third stage of the event with undefeated 6-0 records. Brazil boosted their points to a maximum 18 as the reigning champions blanked Canada 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 29-27) while Russia raised their tally to 17 following a 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 26-24) over Germany.
World League champions United States continued their resurgence with a cruising victory over Australia in straight sets 25-15, 25-19, 25-20 raising their record to 4-2 and 13 points.
Also on Saturday, Argentina defeated Italy 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 30-28, 25-21), China edged Finland 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 16-14) and Cuba downed Bulgaria 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 30-28).
Table of Positions
Pool E: France (5-1, 16 points), Poland (5-1, 14), United States (4-2, 13), Iran (4-2, 12), Serbia (3-3, 9), Argentina (2-4, 6), Italy (1-5, 2) and Australia (0-6, 0).
Pool F: Brazil (6-0, 18 points), Russia (6-0, 17), Germany (4-2, 12), Canada (4-2, 10), Cuba (1-5, 5), Bulgaria (1-5, 5), Finland (1-5, 3) and China (1-5, 2).
Results - September 13, 2014
Best performances
Top scorer by day
24- Taylor Sander of United States v Belgium on 31-8-14
31- Zhi Yuan of China v Egypt on 1-9-14
27- Antonin Rouzier of France v Italy on 2-9-14
30- Zhi Yuan of China v Mexico on 3-9-14
20- Nikola Kovacevic of Serbia v Australia on 4-9-14
20- Jiri Kovar of Italy v Belgium on 4-9-14
20- Daniel Vargas of Mexico v Russia on 5-9-14
27- Maurice Torres of Puerto Rico v Italy on 6-9-14
25- Thomas Edgar of Australia v Venezuela on 7-9-14
23- Taylor Sander of United States v Poland on 10-9-14
25- Mariusz Wlazly of Poland v Italy on 11-9-14
28- Mariusz Wlazly of Poland v Iran on 13-9-14
Top scoring performances
31- Zhi Yuan of China v Egypt on 1-9-14
30- Zhi Yuan of China v Mexico on 3-9-14
28- Mariusz Wlazly of Poland v Iran on 13-9-14
27- Antonin Rouzier of France v Italy on 2-9-14
27- Maurice Torres of Puerto Rico v Italy on 6-9-14
26- Kervin Piñerúa of Venezuela v Cameroon on 2-9-14
26- Matt Anderson of United States v Iran on 2-9-14
25- Taylor Sander of United States v Iran on 2-9-14
25- Jean Patrice Ndaki of Cameroon v Venezuela on 2-9-14
25- Ivan Zaytsev of Italy v France on 2-9-14
25- Todor Aleksiev of Bulgaria v Egypt on 6-9-14
25- Thomas Edgar of Australia v Venezuela on 7-9-14
25- Mariusz Wlazly of Poland v Italy on 11-9-14
Top blocking performances
8- Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Italy on 31-8-14
8- Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Puerto Rico on 7-9-14
7- Seyed Mousavi of Iran v France on 4-9-14
7- Felix Chapman of Cuba v Korea on 5-9-14
7- Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Argentina on 11-9-14
Top serving performances
8- Gyorgy Grozer of Germany v Bulgaria on 11-9-14
6- Zhi Yuan of China v Mexico on 3-9-14
6- Ricardo Lucarelli Santos of Brazil v Finland on 5-9-14
6- Kervin Piñerua of Venezuela v Australia on 7-9-14
6- Dimitriy Muserskiy of Russia v Bulgaria on 7-9-14
6- Facundo Conte of Argentina v Italy on 13-9-14
Top team blocking performances
18- Bulgaria v Egypt on 6-9-14
16- Korea v Tunisia on 1-9-14
16- Italy v Belgium on 4-9-14
16- Iran v Belgium on 6-9-14
16- Iran v Puerto Rico on 7-9-14
Top team serving performances
17- Russia v Bulgaria on 7-9-14
12- Germany v Bulgaria on 11-9-14
11- Venezuela v Cameroon on 2-9-14
11- Brazil v China on 11-9-14
11- Argentina v Italy on 13-9-14
Highest scoring sets
33-31 China v Egypt (4th Set) on 1-9-14
33-31 Cameroon v Venezuela (3rd Set) on 2-9-14
32-30 Australia v France (3rd Set) on 11-9-14
31-29 United States v Serbia (2nd Set) on 11-9-14
30-28 Argentina v Italy (3rd Set) on 13-9-14
30-28 Cuba v Bulgaria (3rd Set) on 13-9-14
Highest scoring matches
217- China d Finland 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 16-14) on 13-9-14
216- Finland d Cuba 3-2 (18-25, 21-25, 27-25, 25-23, 15-12) on 1-9-14
216- Bulgaria d Egypt 3-2 (25-22, 26-24, 23-25, 20-25, 15-11) on 6-9-14
214- Australia d Venezuela 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-9) on 7-9-14
212- Russia d Bulgaria 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-11) on 7-9-14
211- Iran d United States 3-2 (25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 18-25, 17-15) on 2-9-14