Russia
The Russians started the tournament with an expected straight-set win against the Czech Republic, one of the co-organizers of this summer’s U20 European Championship, by 3:0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-20), while Poland, silver medalist from the 2013 CEV Youth Volleyball European Championship – Boys and bronze medalist from the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship, lost to the world’s vice champions from China by a convincing 0:3 (16-25, 21-25, 21-25).
The really big surprises started happening on the second competition day. The Czechs upset the Chinese by a landslide 3:0 (25-20, 25-20, 25:20) before Sergey Shlyapnikov’s home heroes took their first loss – 2:3 (25-20, 16-25, 23-25, 25-20, 10-15) to Poland. Thus, the tables had turned and anything could be expected from the final day of the tournament on Sunday.
The Czech Republic managed to overpower Poland by 3:2 (16-25, 25-16, 25-19, 23-25, 15-13) and secured the second place in the final standings, leaving Russia and China to battle it out for the gold. The Chinese took some revenge for last year’s loss of the World Championship final and disappointed the home side with a 3:1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 25-22).
Yuri Chesnokov Memorial – Final standings:
1. China (6 points)
2. Czech Republic (5 points)
3. Russia (4 points)
4. Poland (3 points)
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