Kazakhstan vs. Portugal
The hosts Portugal punched their ticket for the semifinal already in Round 2 yesterday but they held a fate of Estonia in their hands. In case of beating Kazakhstan in the last round of Pool A, which ultimately happened, Portugal would push Estonia through to the semis.
The tournament hosts outplayed Kazakhstan by a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-16) despite the fact their coach Hugo Silva gave his key players a rest in the match, including the two best scorers Alexandre Ferreira and Marco Evan Ferreira who played only the opening set.
Caíque Silva and Lourenço Martins (7 aces) top-scored for Portugal with 11 points apiece. Maksim Michshenko made 16 points for Kazakhstan.
Cuba
In Pool B, Cuba defeated Chile in a head-to-head clash to seal the semifinal spot next to the Czech Republic.
The Caribbean side scored a four-set win, partially 38-36, 25-22, 29-21, and 25-19, thanks to 25 points (4 kill blocks) from Miguel López and 5 kill blocks from Javier Concepción. Cuba recorded 15 kill blocks as a team compared to Kazakhstan’s 6 kill blocks. Tomás Parraguirre scored 18 points for Chile.
Semifinal (June 23):
16:00 C.E.T. – Czech Republic vs. Estonia
19:00 C.E.T. – Portugal vs. Cuba
To see complete results, stats, and standings, visit our FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup 2018 / Male / Seniors page.
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