Three semifinal berths still available en route to final pool play day in Betim

Completing their first round action, Sada Cruzeiro brought Brazilian fans to ecstasy once again as they successfully dealt with European champions and major threat Zenit Kazan from Russia. The rematch of 2015 gold medal game finished with the same score than a year ago - a 3-1 for the title owners that secured the top Pool A spot for them, with a spotless 3-0 record so far.

Kazan, despite the loss, still depend on their own to be among the four best teams of the competition, as the winner between them and Taichung Bank will qualify right behind Cruzeiro. The Asian champions enjoyed a first-time victory at the tournament on Thursday opener, taking down Egypt’s Tala’ea El-Geish also in four sets. Although the mission for the Chinese Taipei side against Kazan might look impossible, a win would earn them the ticket. 

On the only Pool B match to be played on Day 3, Trentino defeated Argentina’s Bolívar 3-1 to stand above all on the ranking. However, the plot is far from solved as only Minas Tenis Clube holds no chance of taking any of the two semifinals spots. The Italian side, Bolívar and the also Argentinean UPCN reach the final day still dreaming.

Now, Bolívar are in need of a three-nil win over Minas at Friday opener (3 PM local) to be partially relaxed waiting for the result of Trentino v UPCN, at 8 PM (local). A set lost would leave them with a low set ratio, the criteria to break the tie if they’re leveled on wins and points gathered, but the variety of scenarios is so complex the three may even need to use point ratio to decide. Meanwhile, in between those games will occur a direct clash towards semifinals with Zenit Kazan and Taichung Bank at 5.30 PM (local).

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
24 - Nikolay Uchikov of UPCN v Bolívar on 19 October
19 - Jan Stokr of Trentino v Bolívar on 20 October

Top Scoring Performances
24 - Nikolay Uchikov of UPCN v Bolívar on 19 October
19 - Jan Stokr of Trentino v Bolívar on 20 October
18 - Yoandy Leal Hidalgo of Sada Cruzeiro v Zenit Kazan on 20 October
18 - Gustavo Guazzelli Bonatto of UPCN v Bolívar on 19 October
17 - Todor Aleksiev of Bolívar v UPCN on 19 October

Top Individual Blocking Performances
5 - Pablo Crer of Bolívar v UPCN on 19 October
4 - Sebastián Solé of Trentino v Bolívar on 20 October
4 - Martin Ramos of UPCN v Bolívar on 19 October
3 - Robertlandy Simón Aties of Sada Cruzeiro v Tala’ea El-Geish on 19 October
3 - Maxim Mikhaylov of Zenit Kazan v Tala’ea El-Geish on 18 October

Top Individual Serving Performances
3 - Evandro Guerra of Sada Cruzeiro v Tala’ea El-Geish on 19 October
3 - Jan Stokr of Trentino v Minas Tenis Clube on 19 October
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
10 - Bolívar v UPCN on 19 October
10 - Trentino v Bolívar on 20 October
10 - Zenit Kazan v Sada Cruzeiro on 20 October
9 - UPCN v Bolívar on 19 October

Top Team Serving Performances
11 - Sada Cruzeiro v Taichung Bank on 18 October
8 - Sada Cruzeiro v Tala’ea El-Geish on 19 October
6 - Zenit Kazan v Tala’ea El-Geish on 18 October
6 - Trentino v Minas Tenis Clube on 19 October
6 - Sada Cruzeiro v Zenit Kazan on 20 October

Highest Scoring Sets
33-31 - Bolívar v UPCN on 19 October
30-28 - Bolívar v UPCN on 19 October
27-25 - Bolívar v UPCN on 19 October
26-24 - Sada Cruzeiro v Zenit Kazan on 20 October
25-23 - Trentino v Minas Tenis Clube on 19 October

Highest Scoring Matches
221 - Bolívar v UPCN on 19 October
185 - Sada Cruzeiro v Zenit Kazan on 20 October
180 - Taichung Bank v Tala’ea El-Geish on 20 October
177 - Trentino v Bolívar on 20 October
133 - UPCN v Minas Tenis Clube on 18 October