Sada Cruzeiro captain William Arjona serving at his side's convincing win over Taichung Bank
Betim, Brazil, October 18, 2016 - Tuesday was over in the blink of an eye as all three matches of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship Betim 2016 opening day finished in straight sets, with current medal holders Sada Cruzeiro from Brazil, Russia’s Zenit Kazan and UPCN from Argentina emerging as solid winners.
On a very hot day in Betim, the court got even hotter from the very first serve, with European champions Zenit Kazan taking things very seriously against debutants Tala’ea El-Geish from Egypt. There was absolutely no room for surprises as Kazan used all of their aces to nail this Pool A game - Maxim Mikhaylov, Wilfredo León and Matthew Anderson led the constellation of stars at a super-solid win by three-nil.
On the next shift, UPCN survived a close first set against hosts Minas Tenis Clube from Brazil, just by 25-22. To those who say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, Argentinean champions proved them right as they swept Minas from the court, easily wrapping up the match in the next two chapters.
Finally, it was time for what local fans had been waiting for - Sada Cruzeiro jumping on court to face Taichung Bank from Chinese Taipei, in their first test of their title defence. Firing an awesome total of 11 service points, the reigning champions didn’t have to switch gears to ride past Taichung, also in straight sets and even without 60 minutes of contest.
Day 2 in Betim will be highlighted with the first game of Argentina’s Bolívar and former mega-champions Trentino from Italy. While the light-blue team will have an all-Argentinean duel against UPCN, Trentino will also play in Pool B, taking on hosts Minas. Once again, local idols Sada Cruzeiro will be in charge of the final act, this time against Tala’ea El-Geish.
FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship Betim 2016
Overall Statistics
Highest Scorer by Day
16 - Yoandy Leal Hidalgo of Sada Cruzeiro v Taichung Bank on 18 October
Top Scoring Performances
16 - Yoandy Leal Hidalgo of Sada Cruzeiro v Taichung Bank on 18 October
13 - Yordan Bisset Astengo of Minas Tenis Clube v UPCN on 18 October
12 - Nikolay Uchikov of UPCN v Minas Tenis Clube on 18 October
Top Individual Blocking Performances
3 - Martin Ramos of UPCN v Minas Tenis Clube on 18 October
3 - Gustavo Guazzelli Bonatto of UPCN v Minas Tenis Clube on 18 October
3 - Maxim Mikhaylov of Zenit Kazan v Tala’ea El-Geish on 18 October
Top Individual Serving Performances
3 - William Arjona of Sada Cruzeiro v Taichung Bank on 18 October
3 - Yoandy Leal Hidalgo of Sada Cruzeiro v Taichung Bank on 18 October
Top Team Blocking Performances
10 - Zenit Kazan v Tala’ea El-Geish on 18 October
8 - UPCN v Minas Tenis Clube on 18 October
Top Team Serving Performances
11 - Sada Cruzeiro v Taichung Bank on 18 October
6 - Zenit Kazan v Tala’ea El-Geish on 18 October
5 - Tala’ea El-Geish v Zenit Kazan on 18 October
Highest Scoring Sets
25-22 - UPCN v Minas Tenis Clube on 18 October
Highest Scoring Matches
133 - UPCN v Minas Tenis Clube on 18 October
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship Betim 2016 - Teams