2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's U23 World Championship

The 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's U23 World Championship was the third and final edition of the international volleyball tournament and the world championship for men's national teams under the age of 23, organized by the sport's world governing body, FIVB. The tournament was held in Cairo, Egypt from 18 to 25 August 2017.[1] 12 teams from the 5 confederations competed in the tournament.

2017 FIVB Men's U23 World Championship

بطولة العالم للكرة الطائرة للرجال تحت 23 عاما 2017 مِصر‎
Tournament details
Host nation	Egypt
Dates	18–25 August
Teams	12
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Champions	Argentina (1st title)
Runners-up	Russia
Third place	Cuba
Fourth place	Brazil
Tournament awards
MVP	Germán Johansen
Best Setter	Matías Sánchez
Best OH	Denis Bogdan Miguel Gutiérrez
Best MB	Ivan Iakovlev Matheus Santos
Best OPP	Hisham Ewais
Best Libero	Rogério Filho
Official website

Argentina defeated defending champions Russia 4–2 in the final to claim their first title in the competition.[2] This marked Argentina's first ever world title at any age group. Cuba won the bronze medal outclassing Brazil 4–1.[3] Germán Johansen from Argentina was elected the MVP.

After this tournament, FIVB declared that "As per decision of May 2019 FIVB Board of Administration, the U23 WCH has been abolished."[4]

Qualification

The FIVB Sports Events Council revealed a proposal to streamline the number of teams participating in the Age Group World Championships.[5]

Means of Qualification		Date	Venue	Vacancies	Qualifiers
Host Nation		2 February 2016	Lausanne	1	Egypt
2016 South American Championship		21–25 June 2016	Cartagena	1	Brazil
2016 European Qualifiers		27–31 July 2016	Zagreb	2	Poland
					Turkey
2016 Pan-American Cup	For CSV	5–10 September 2016	Guanajuato City	1	Argentina
	For NORCECA			2	Cuba
					Mexico
2017 African Championship		21–22 February 2017	Sétif	1	Algeria
2017 Asian Championship		1–9 May 2017	Ardabil	2	Iran
					Japan
World Ranking		January 2017[6]	Lausanne	2	Russia
					China
Total				12

Pools composition

Teams were seeded following the Serpentine system according to their FIVB U23 World Ranking as of January 2017.[6] FIVB reserved the right to seed the hosts as head of pool A regardless of the U23 World Ranking. Rankings are shown in brackets except the hosts who ranked 10th.

Pool A	Pool B
Egypt (Hosts)	Turkey (1)
Cuba (4)	Russia (3)
Brazil (5)	Argentina (6)
Mexico (11)	Iran (7)
Poland (12)	Algeria (13)
Japan (25)	China (17)

Squads

Venues

All matches
Cairo
Cairo Stadium Halls Complex 1 & 2
Capacity: 20,000

Testing of new rules

The 2017 FIVB Men's U23 World Championship will be a testing ground for a new scoring scheme currently under review by the FIVB, which, if successful, could mark a historical turning point for volleyball – much as the introduction of the Rally Scoring System did in the late 1990s.[7]

Matches in Cairo will be played to best-of-seven sets with each set to 15 points (with at least a two-point difference needed). Three ranking points will be awarded to teams winning 4–0, 4–1 or 4–2. Two points go the winner of a 4–3 match with one point for the loser. It is hoped that the new scoring system will reduce overall duration of matches, while making each set more attractive and exciting – much as tie-breaks are under the current regulations. The interval between sets is reduced to two minutes (from three). Teams will switch ends after the second set - and also, if needed, after sets 4, 5 and 6. In addition, there will be no technical timeouts – just two regular thirty-second timeouts per team per set.

The basic principles for the new scheme were tested for the first time in the Dutch League in the 2016–17 season. Further testing of the scheme will be conducted at the Women's U23 World Championship in Ljubljana. During and after the competition, players, coaches, referees and officials will be evaluating the new system through a questionnaire, while duration and scoring statistics will be gathered and analysed.

This is the second time that the Men's U23 World Championship serves as a testbed for new regulations. Matches of the inaugural edition in 2013 in Uberlândia were played to 21-point sets. In addition to the scoring system, a new serving regulation will be tried out in Cairo, with the server not allowed to land inside the court after a jump service.

The testing of the new rules has been received with criticism from the volleyball community.[8]

Pool standing procedure

1. Number of matches won
2. Match points
3. Sets ratio
4. Points ratio
5. Result of the last match between the tied teams

Match won 4–0, 4–1 or 4–2: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loser
Match won 4–3: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser

Preliminary round

• All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00).

	Qualified for the Semifinals
	Qualified for the 5th–8th semifinals

Pool A

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Brazil	5	0	14	20	4	5.000	365	285	1.281
2	Cuba	3	2	10	16	13	1.231	418	407	1.027
3	Egypt	3	2	8	15	13	1.154	413	382	1.081
4	Japan	2	3	7	13	14	0.929	358	374	0.957
5	Poland	2	3	6	11	13	0.846	354	350	1.011
6	Mexico	0	5	0	2	20	0.100	232	342	0.678

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
18 Aug	14:30	Brazil	4–0	Mexico	15–7	15–8	15–6	15–10				60–31	Report
18 Aug	17:00	Cuba	1–4	Poland	12–15	15–12	14–16	10–15	15–17			66–75	Report
18 Aug	21:00	Egypt	4–3	Japan	15–10	15–13	12–15	15–8	9–15	13–15	15–10	94–86	Report
19 Aug	15:00	Mexico	0–4	Japan	12–15	12–15	11–15	10–15				45–60	Report
19 Aug	17:30	Brazil	4–0	Poland	15–10	22–20	20–18	15–7				74–57	Report
19 Aug	20:00	Egypt	2–4	Cuba	15–13	14–16	15–10	12–15	11–15	16–18		83–87	Report
20 Aug	15:00	Cuba	4–2	Japan	15–13	19–17	14–16	13–15	16–14	15–13		92–88	Report
20 Aug	17:30	Mexico	0–4	Poland	8–15	8–15	10–15	10–15				36–60	Report
20 Aug	20:00	Egypt	1–4	Brazil	12–15	16–18	11–15	15–12	12–15			66–75	Report
21 Aug	15:00	Poland	2–4	Japan	13–15	16–14	12–15	13–15	15–8	13–15		82–82	Report
21 Aug	17:30	Cuba	3–4	Brazil	15–13	13–15	15–11	15–11	11–15	8–15	12–15	89–95	Report
21 Aug	20:00	Egypt	4–1	Mexico	15–5	15–7	13–15	15–9	20–18			78–54	Report
23 Aug	15:00	Brazil	4–0	Japan	15–9	15–12	15–7	16–14				61–42	Report
23 Aug	17:30	Cuba	4–1	Mexico	15–7	15–9	24–26	15–13	15–11			84–66	Report
23 Aug	20:00	Egypt	4–1	Poland	15–13	15–7	32–30	13–15	17–15			92–80	Report

Pool B

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Argentina	4	1	13	19	8	2.375	385	316	1.218
2	Russia	4	1	12	19	7	2.714	374	323	1.158
3	Iran	4	1	11	18	8	2.250	379	332	1.142
4	China	2	3	5	8	15	0.533	281	316	0.889
5	Turkey	1	4	5	9	18	0.500	342	384	0.891
6	Algeria	0	5	0	3	20	0.150	259	349	0.742

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
18 Aug	14:30	Turkey	3–4	China	17–19	15–12	15–11	8–15	10–15	15–10	10–15	90–97	Report
18 Aug	17:00	Russia	4–0	Algeria	15–8	15–11	15–11	15–8				60–38	Report
18 Aug	21:00	Argentina	4–2	Iran	16–14	11–15	15–11	18–16	13–15	15–10		88–81	Report
19 Aug	15:00	Iran	4–0	China	15–13	15–12	15–8	15–13				60–46	Report
19 Aug	17:30	Argentina	4–0	Algeria	15–11	15–8	15–9	15–12				60–40	Report
19 Aug	20:00	Turkey	0–4	Russia	16–18	13–15	6–15	13–15				48–63	Report
20 Aug	15:00	Russia	4–0	China	15–8	15–11	15–11	15–11				60–41	Report
20 Aug	17:30	Turkey	2–4	Argentina	8–15	15–6	7–15	17–15	11–15	9–15		67–81	Report
20 Aug	20:00	Iran	4–1	Algeria	16–18	15–8	15–7	15–9	15–12			76–54	Report
21 Aug	15:00	Algeria	0–4	China	15–17	13–15	7–15	11–15				46–62	Report
21 Aug	17:30	Turkey	0–4	Iran	12–15	9–15	15–17	10–15				46–62	Report
21 Aug	20:00	Russia	4–3	Argentina	11–15	15–12	13–15	15–13	8–15	15–12	16–14	96–96	Report
23 Aug	15:00	Argentina	4–0	China	15–8	15–9	15–9	15–9				60–35	Report
23 Aug	17:30	Russia	3–4	Iran	11–15	15–12	15–10	13–15	15–13	18–20	11–15	98–100	Report
23 Aug	20:00	Turkey	4–2	Algeria	15–10	17–19	14–16	15–11	15–12	15–13		91–81	Report

Final round

• All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00).

5th–8th places

	5th–8th semifinals				5th place match
	24 August
	Egypt	4
					25 August
	China	1
					Egypt	4
	24 August
					Japan	0
	Iran	3
	Japan	4
					7th place match
					24 August
					China	1
					Iran	4

5th–8th semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
24 Aug	15:00	Iran	3–4	Japan	14–16	15–10	15–13	11–15	15–12	13–15	7–15	90–96	Report
24 Aug	20:00	Egypt	4–1	China	15–12	15–13	12–15	19–17	15–8			76–65	Report

7th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
25 Aug	10:00	China	1–4	Iran	15–17	5–15	11–15	19–17	18–20			68–84	Report

5th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
25 Aug	15:00	Egypt	4–0	Japan	15–9	15–8	15–11	15–12				60–40	Report

Final four

	Semifinals				Final
	24 August
	Brazil	3
					25 August
	Russia	4
					Russia	2
	24 August
					Argentina	4
	Argentina	4
	Cuba	1
					3rd place match
					25 August
					Brazil	1
					Cuba	4

Semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
24 Aug	15:00	Brazil	3–4	Russia	15–11	15–13	11–15	15–17	15–13	13–15	8–15	92–99	Report
24 Aug	17:30	Argentina	4–1	Cuba	15–7	15–7	11–15	15–13	17–15			73–57	Report

3rd place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
25 Aug	15:30	Brazil	1–4	Cuba	16–18	13–15	13–15	22–20	11–15			75–83	Report

Final

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Set 6	Set 7	Total	Report
25 Aug	18:00	Russia	2–4	Argentina	10–15	11–15	14–16	16–14	15–13	9–15		75–88	Report

Final Standing

Rank Team  Argentina  Russia  Cuba 4  Brazil 5  Egypt 6  Japan 7  Iran 8  China 9  Poland  Turkey 11  Algeria  Mexico

2017 Men's U23 World Champions  Argentina 1st title 12–man Roster Matías Sánchez, Brian Melgarejo, Jan Martínez, Edgar Vieira, Ignacio Luengas, Gaspar Bitar, Santiago Danani, Liam Arreche, Gastón Fernández (c), Agustín Loser, Andrés Arduino, Germán Johansen Head Coach Camilo Soto

Awards

Most Valuable Player Germán Johansen Best Setter Matías Sánchez Best Outside Spikers Denis Bogdan Miguel Gutiérrez

Best Middle Blockers Ivan Iakovlev Matheus Santos Best Opposite Spiker Hisham Ewais Best Libero Rogério Filho

See also

• 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship

References

1. "FOUR AGE GROUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS HOSTS CONFIRMED". FIVB. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
2. "Argentina dethrone Russia with epic win for historic world title". FIVB. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
3. "Cuba outclass Brazil for Men's U23 bronze". FIVB. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
4. "Expression of Interest and Organisational Conditionsfor Future Organisers" (PDF). FIVB. 4 February 2020. p. 1.
5. "FIVE 2017 MEN'S U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BERTHS STILL TO PLAY FOR". FIVB. 19 November 2016.
6. "FIVB World Ranking - Men U23 (as per January 2017)". FIVB. January 2017.
7. "U23 Worlds testbed for new scoring rules". FIVB. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
8. "Teste com as novas regras desagrada técnicos das seleções sub-23" (in Portuguese). Saída de Rede. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.

External links

• Official website