Bengaluru, Dec 9: Brazil’s Itambe Minas twice fought back from a set down to pack off Suntory Sunbirds of Japan and set up a summit clash against defending champions Sir Sicoma Perugia in the Volleyball Men’s Club World Championships here on Saturday.
Michael Sanchez (27 points) and Marcus Coelho (18 points) did the star turn for Minas in the fourth and fifth sets and the Brazilians kept their nerves to brush aside a late fightback from Sunbirds to win 22-25, 25-22, 28-30, 25-20, 17-15, converting their fourth match point.
Minas, who had finished fourth in the last edition, looked like they could once again be playing the third and fourth place play-off the second successive edition given the slew of errors from the team in the first two sets.
But the most successful Brazilian professional volleyball team found a different gear at the business end of the match to beat Sunbirds in front of a packed Koramangala Indoor Stadium.
India is hosting the prestigious club championships for the first time and volleyball fans were treated to a humdinger by Minas and Sunbirds, who will now face Turkey’s Halkbank Spor Kulubu for the bronze medal.
There was very little too choose between the two teams throughout the five sets as the lead oscillated depending on the which team could stitch together a series of points without making errors.
In the opening set, Minas and Sunbirds stayed neck and neck till 13-13. Sunbirds libero Soshi Fujinaka’s service receiving then ensured that the Japanese not only stayed alive in the point but also managed to turn the tables thanks to the quality spiking of their Russian Opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy.
Left-handed middle blocker Kenji Sato also scored valuable points to help his team grab the opening set.
However, Minas started the second set with more attacking intent but their below par serving held back their march till the second half of the set in which they made 8 of the 11 service errors in the first 20 points.
But Gustavo Orlando and Paulo da Silva found their mojo at the right time and it was the ace from the former that put the Brazilians ahead at 21-22 and then the latter wrapped things up to level the set scores.
The third set followed a similar pattern with Minas holding the upper hand. But the Brazilians could not covert two set points and though they managed to save four set points themselves, a lucky net chord put them on the brink.
However, with their backs to the wall, Minas raised their game with the likes of Renan Moralez, Paulo and Coelho creating openings with their big booming serves.
It looked like the Brazilians would race through the final set when they opened up a 12-9 lead and then earned two match points. But a Alain Junior spike and a strong defensive work from Muserskiy helped Sunbirds force the set into extra points.
It was Muserskiy who could not keep his spike down with Sunbirds facing a third match point and the Minas bench erupted in celebrations.
The tournament will go on till 10th of December at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru. Ahmedabad Defenders will find themselves in Pool A, facing the defending champions, Sir Sicoma Perugia from Italy, and Brazil’s Minas Tênis Clube (Itambé Minas). In Pool B, Halkbank Spor Kulübü from Turkey, Sada Cruzeiro Volei from Brazil, and Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds are grouped.
The match tickets can be purchased at BookMyShow.
The Men’s Volleyball Club World Championships 2023 will be telecast live in India on Sony Sports Network across Sony Ten 1 & Sony Ten 3 channels and the broadcast will be shown globally on Volleyball World. Fans in India can also stream the tournament online on FanCode.
