Cuba, Puerto Rico and Canada all lost in Day One at U21

MANAMA, Bahrain, July 18, 2019 – NORCECA teams had a disappointing start at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship on Thursday in Bahrain’s Isa Sport City.

Korea endured the challenge of a hard-hitting Cuban squad, with the Asian side winning 3-1 (27-25, 17-25, 25-22, 27-25) in Pool B. 

Donghyeok Im had 21 points and Jiham Kim added 13 for Korea. José Carlos Romero finished with 17 for Cuba, while José Miguel Gutiérrez and Julio César Cardenas each had 15.

Hosts Bahrain succeeded in their campaign opener with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-20) win over Puerto Rico in Pool A.

Hassan Mohamed and Mahmood Abdulhuain each had 12 points for the home side, while Sebastian Negrón also had 12 for Puerto Rico.

Italy took a straight-sets win (25-17, 25-17, 25-15) against Canada in Pool D.

Francesco Recine and Giovannimaría Gargiulo led Italy with 9 points each. Fynnian Lionel McCarthy had 7 as the best Canadian scorer.