Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Argentina, Iran and Spain also keep their hopes alive in Sofia
Huang faces two Puerto Rican blockers during the Round of 16 in Sofia
The top scorer of the 2024 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship, the Chinese Taipei’s opposite Huang Pin-Yen shone again on Tuesday, taking his country’s national team to the quarterfinals of the tournament held in Sofia.
- Watch the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship free of charge on VBTV
The eight national teams that continue in the race for the title will have a day off before returning to the court for Thursday’s quarterfinal matches, which will have Italy facing Iran at 11:00 local time (8:00 GMT), Argentina playing Egypt at 14:00 (11:00), Belgium meeting Spain at 17:00 (14:00) and Brazil dueling with the Chinese Taipei at 20:00 (17:00).
Standing at the top of the scoring charts with 110 points, the 16-year-old, left-handed Huang propelled the Chinese Taipei to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-9, 25-18, 25-16) comeback win over Puerto Rico with a superb 26-point (22 kills, two blocks, two aces) performance, his third-best in four matches in Sofia. Puerto Rico’s leading scorer was outside hitter Adrian Carrillo, with 12 points.
In the quarterfinals, the Asians will face Brazil, the only team which is yet to drop a set in the tournament. On Tuesday, the South Americans got their fourth sweep in Sofia, beating Libya 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-19) with 15 points from outside hitter Lucas Carvalho. Libyan opposite Muezbillah Balnnour had another solid performance, with 13 points.
Brazil’s Theo Schrank scored 11 points against Libya
Brazil will be one of two South American sides in the quarterfinals as continental rivals Argentina also advanced, eliminating hosts Bulgaria with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-17, 15-25, 25-23) victory. The Argentineans benefited from great teamwork to prevail as the team’s five starting hitters – outside hitters Federico Debonis (13) and Benjamin Flores (13), middle blockers Alvaro Ferrer Bassone (13) and Ivan Pavon (ten) and opposite Henry Sinner (12) – all got to double digits in scoring. Bulgaria had the match’s top scorer in outside hitter Aleksandar Dobrev, who tallied 22 (18 kills, four aces).
“It was a really tough match,” Sinner told the FIVB. “We’ve been working with this team for almost two years and to be among the best national teams in the world is really rewarding because it shows that all our hard work is paying off. But we want…
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