Cuba hands Egypt a 4-2 loss at U23 Championship

CAIRO, Egypt, August 19, 2017 - Cuba scored their first win and handed hosts Egypt their first defeat in a 4-2 (13-15, 16-14, 10-15, 15-12, 15-11, 18-16) thriller here Saturday night, as Day 2 of the 2017 FIVB Men's U23 World Championship came to a close.

Both teams are now 1-1 in Pool A.

All matches in Cairo are played under a new scoring system currently being tested: a best-of-seven, 15-point set format.

Egypt had the opportunity to go two sets up at the beginning of the match, but the hosts dropped a set point at 13-14 and allowed Cuba to make a three-point run and finish the set off on an ace by Marlon 'Yant' Yang.

Japan registered their first win demolishing Mexico 4-0 (15-12, 15-12, 15-11, 15-10) in 58 minutes and leaving the North American side winless and setless after two matches.

The result lifts Japan to 1-1 in the standings of Pool while Mexico drop to 0-2. The top two teams of each pool in Cairo advance to the semifinals. Ridl Garay was Mexico's best scorer with 8 points.

Japan overwhelmed Mexico on the net and also took advantage of 20 unfored errors by the losers. Jin Tsuzuki with 11 points and Masato Katsuoka with 10 (including three aces) led the scoring for Japan.