Cuba settles for silver medals at U21 Worlds

BRNO, Czech Republic, July 2, 2017 – Poland lived up to the expectations and won the title at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship Czech Republic 2017.

The inspired Polish squad was a like a fine-tuned machine and left no doubts about who deserves the gold medal. They handed Cuba a 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-19) shutout to defend their U19 world title from two years ago.

Outside spiker Bartosz Kwolek and opposite Jakub Ziobrowski were the best scorers for the winning side with 12 points each, while Cuba’s opposite Miguel David Gutierrez topped them with 15 points.

Russia, the world champions from the previous three editions of Men’s U21 World Championship had to settle for bronze at the 2017 tournament in the Czech Republic.

Led by middle blocker Alexei Kononov, Russia cruised to a comfortable 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-19) victory over Brazil in Sunday’s third place match in Brno to secure their spot on the podium. Kononov was the best scorer of the game with 13 points, including six kill blocks.