Cuba avoids last place in Pool D

VARNA, Bulgaria, September 17, 2018 – It was a matter of pride but Cuba managed to avoid the last place finish in Pool D of the 2018 Men’s FIVB World Championship. The boys in blue beat Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17) but the score was academic as both teams were eliminated on Sunday from the tournament.

Miguel Gutierrez joined the exclusive club of players with 30 or more points in a World Championship match, scoring 31. Miguel Lopez added 19 while despite the slow start Maurice Torres once again was head and shoulders above all of Puerto Rico players with 15.

In Florence, Italy, Belgium’s Red Dragons claimed a compelling 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-13, 25-17) over the Dominican Republic as their blocking performance was just outstanding, with 14 stuffs in the end.

Hendrik Tuerlinckx and Igor Oskar Grobelny, who usually do not feature in the starting six, scored 14 and 13 points respectively to set the tempo for the Belgians. Dominican opposite Henry Tapia, who played for two sets only, scored eight points for the losing side. 

In Ruse, Bulgaria, Brazil is back on the winning way! The South Americans overpowered Canada 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18) in front of over 2500 spectators in “Arena Monbat” and are back in the game, chasing the first place in Pool B.

This is the first loss for Canada at the tournament which brought them down to the second place in the standing. 

Wallace finished as a top scorer for the winners with 24 points! For Canada John Gordon Perrin scored 18.