Türkiye, Poland reach quarterfinals at men’s volleyball worlds

MANILA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — Türkiye and Poland defeated their respective rivals on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.

In the first round of 16 match, Türkiye wrote history to make its first ever World Championship quarterfinal with a turnaround win over the Netherlands.

The first set was hotly contested as Türkiye denied four set points from the Netherlands, but on the fifth one, Bennie Tuinstra spiked to score the set winner for the Netherlands.

Türkiye fought back while its opponent held up until 22-22 in the second set. Türkiye broke away to take the set and level the score.

Türkiye completely dominated the third set to step in front. With three aces from Efe Mandiraci, Türkiye stormed to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set and never looked back. Finally, it was Mandiraci again, who delivered the match winner for a 3-1 (27-29, 25-23, 25-16, 25-19) victory.

Opposite Adis Lagumdzija spiked at a 57% success rate and finished with a match high 28 points. Outside hitter Mandiraci added 15 points, while Mirza Lagumdzija chipped in with 13 points.

“This game was of historic importance for us, because we never made the last eight of a World Championship. So, we are really happy, we did an amazing job and I am proud of my team,” Mandiraci said. “We learned to play together and that’s why we did a great job.”

In its first ever World Championship quarterfinal, Türkiye will meet Poland, who overcame a second set slump to beat Canada 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 25-14) in the other round of 16 match on Saturday.  ■