Poland vs. Russia
After suffering a defeat in the opening round of Pool 2 against one of the co-hosts of the tournament Belgium, the defending champions Poland redeemed by beating Russia in Kortrijk after being two sets down. Poland could have clinched the first two sets as they dropped a 23-20 in the opening set and tied at 23-23 in the second set after trailing by 6 (9-3). They charged these omissions with interest by easily prevailing in the next three sets, including tie-break – 24-26, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-9. Remigiusz Kapica highlighted Poland with 23 points (2 aces, 3 kill blocks). Bartosz Firszt added 4 aces and 5 kill blocks while Kamil Szymura recorded 80% reception (15 digs, 1 error, 40% excellent). Ivan Kuznetsov scored 21 points for Russia.
Belgium vs. France
France nearly repeated the same scenario against Belgium but failed to preserve a three-point lead in the tie-break (6-3) – 25-23, 25-22, 15-25, 16-25, 15-13. Dries Van Lommel set up 7 kill blocks for the „Red Dragons“ and finished the match as his team’s best scorer with 13 points. Pierre Derouillon top-scored for France with 25 points, including 5 aces, while François Rebeyrol made 77% reception (22 digs, 45% excellent).
There was another tie-breaker on Day 2 of the tournament – in Pool 1 in Ede. Germany downed the Czech Republic to settle at the top of the standings – 25-23, 21-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-9. Berlin Recycling Volleys hope Linus Weber staged an outstanding performance for the winning side – 30 points (4 aces, 3 kill blocks). Anton Brehme recorded 73% attack (11/15, 2 errors). Marek Šotola scored 21 points for the Czechs. Josef Polák made 4 kill blocks.
To see complete results, stats, and standings, visit our European Championship 2018 / Male / U20 page.
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