Italy, Japan, Türkiye and USA on to U19 Worlds semifinals

Italy, Japan, Türkiye and the United States are the four national teams still standing in the 2023 FIVB Girls’ U19 Volleyball World Championship in Osijek, Croatia, and Szeged, Hungary.

Play resumed on Wednesday after one day off and the four sides advanced from the quarterfinals of the tournament, which were all held in Osijek, and will play in the semifinals on Thursday – the medal matches will be held on Friday. Japan will play Türkiye in one of the semfiinals, with Italy and the United States meeting in the other.

The tournament is streamed live on the Volleyball World YouTube channel.

Japan were the first to secure a spot in the semifinals in Osijek, overcoming Asian rivals Thailand in a dramatic five-set battle, in which the Japanese managed to claim a 3-2 (25-20, 20-25, 25-20, 27-29, 15-10) victory.

Outside hitters Riri Kasai and Sae Omori were instrumental in the Japanese triumph, registering 25 and 19 points respectively. Thailand also had a pair of high-scoring outside hitters in the match as captain Warisara Seetaloed and Tanyapron Seeso left the court with 26 and 20 points.