World Championship: what happened in first round? Recap of Day 1.

POOL A, @ Florence
Italy-Japan 3:0 (already played @ Rome)
Dominican Republic-Slovenia 1:3 (25:22, 13:25, 13:25, 17:25)
Dominican Republic steal the first set against Slovenia, who has played for the first time at the World Championship, in a the debut that was positive. The Dominican Republic have managed to take the first set and to destroy Slobodan Kovac’s team. However, after the massacre Slovenia started playing at a much higher level, destroying the rival in other three sets. Tine Urnat was the best scorer with 18 points, while Mitja Gasparini scored 17 and Klemen Cebulj 12.

Belgium-Argentina 3:1 (25:19, 25:19, 22:25, 25:19)
Sam Deroo, leading his team to the 3-1 victory with 21 points, was probably the undisputed MVP of Belgium, that yesterday destroyed an opaque Argentina, and it seems that Belgium have sent a message that they have an ambitious goal at this World Championship. It was sure an important win for Belgium. For Belgium, good match also for Bram van der Dries, who scored 17 points. On the other side, Facundo Conte had 11 points, while Lisandro Zanotti added 10, but their match was, in my opinion, mediocre.

POOL B, @ Ruse
France-Cina 3:0 (25:20, 25:21, 25:17)
Boyer pushes France and, as expected, France won 3-0 over China. This was not an easy game for the French side, and in the first set Raul Lozano’s team started with a good advantage, 10-7. The opposite of France Boyer scoring 11 points only in this part of the match, and was, of course, the absolut top scorer of the match with 23 points, while Kevin Tillie scored 10 points with an excellent percentages in the attack (12/10). For China, only one player had double digit scoring performance, Chuan Jiang, with 10 points.

Netherlands-Canada 0:3 (15:25, 23:25, 18:25)
Stephane Antiga’s team were in the mood today against the Netherlands, against a team that has returned to the World Championship after 16 years. The Canadian team played at another level, leaving no space for the rival to do anything to win. Nicolas Hoag, with 11 points and Sharone Vernon Evans were the top scorers, while Nimir Abdel Aziz scored 13 points.

Brazil-Egypt 3:0 (25:17, 25:22, 25:20)
Convincing victory of Brazil against Egypt, in a so expected result in a match played between Brazil and Egypt. Renan dal Zotto’s team has opened the World Championship in a good way, with a victory easily in three sets. Nothing to mention about Egypt’s chances in this game. Wallace de Souza and Douglas de Souza was the top scorer of the match, with 12 points each. On the other side Ahmed Salah ended the match with 13 points.

POOL D, @ Bari
Camerun-Tunisia 3:0 (25:20, 28:26, 25:21)
Good start for Cameroon: Tunisia surrender after three sets. Cameroon had really a good performance, leaving no space Tunisia to fight back. Tunisia had a better start of the match, 5-0 and then 7-1 advantage, but Cameroon have managed to win the match in three sets. David Patrick Feughouo was the top scorer in Cameroon with 21 points, while Hamza Nagga scored the same number of points on the other side. It’s possible to see photogallery of this match.

Australia-Russia 0:3 (21:25, 20:25, 16:25)
Russia win despite a discreet resistance of Australia. One of the favorite team of competition have beaten Australia in the three sets. Something was missing to the Aussies to make a better result in this match, but Russia play really another game. Australia was ahead until the end of the first and second set, however, Russia simply knew what to do to win the sets. Until the third set, where they destroyed the rivals. The top scorer of the match was Maxim Mikhailov with 17 points, while Dmitry Muserskiy scored 13! Paul Carrol scored 13 points on the other side. It’s possible to see photogallery of this match.

USA-Serbia 3:2 (15:25, 25:14, 21:25, 25:20, 15:10)
Great battle between USA and Serbia. In what was probabily the most interesting match of yesterday, the United States defeated Serbia in tie-break. It was the first match (and only, at this moment) that ended in five sets at the World Championship. So, these two teams shared three points, with the USA got two while Serbia got one. This is a good win for John Speraw’s team. USA were trailing 2-1 and managed to win the game, performing very well in the fourth but especially in the tie-break.
There were many ups and downs from both sides and it seems that the USA have made fewer mistakes, which was enough to take the win the match.
American Aaron Russell was the top scorer with 19 points, followed by Matt Anderson with 18 and Taylor Sander with 16. Good match also for the blocker Max Holt, with 10 points. The next rival of the United States, today, is Australia.
For Serbia, the best was Uros Kovacevic with 19 points, followed by Aleksandar Atanasijevic that scored 14 and Marko Ivovic 11. The next rival of Serbia today, is Cameroon. You can see HD photogallery of this match, click here!

POOL D @ Varna
Bulgaria-Finland 3:0 (already played)
Iran-Puerto RICO 3:0 (25:19, 25:14, 25:18)
Iran victorious, scored 3-0 victory at his first matches at the World Championship! They didn’t have any problems against Puerto Rico. Only in the first set, Igor Kolakovic’s team allowed the rival to stay in the match, however, the attack of Puerto Rico was rejected. Top scorers of the match were Mousavi with 11 points, and Ghafour and Shafiei with 10. Maurice Torres scored 10 points on the other side.

Cuba-Poland 1:3 (18:25, 19:25, 25:21, 14:25)
Poland, who is the actual world champion, beat Cuba in four sets. Cuba have just managed to extend the match, and even though the Polish team has lost one set, the most important thing was the victory, and this was net, especially in the fourth set after an attention deficit in 3rd set. Artur Szalpuk was the best scorer with 20 points, followed by Bartosz Kurek with 17 and Michal Kubiak with 14. Cuban Javier Octavio Concepcion Rojas ended the match with 12 points.