Men’s pool B turns out to be full of surprises

Larnaka, Cyprus, July 28, 2016 – Pool B in the men’s competition of the FIVB U19 World Championships proved to be full of surprises on the first day of main draw. Lucky losers Alexei Kirienko and Anton Saraev upset Brazil’s top seeds Renato Lima de Carvalho and Rafael Jose Mendonca de Quieroz 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 15-12), but in their second match the Russians had to bow for Mexico’s Miguel Sarabia and Raymond Stephens (21-14, 21-13).The day had started well for 17-year old Kirienko and Saraev. They were still euphoric because they got this second chance as lucky losers. Saraev: “It was so amazing last night. I just couldn’t believe it. It took me 15 minutes to realize we were that lucky. There were so much emotions going around in my head.”It definitely gave them wings in the match against the Brazilians. “We tried to do everything in perfect quality. No mistakes”, said Kirienko, who is following in his brother’s footsteps here in Larnaka. His older sibling Viacheslav Kirienko (22) won bronze at the U19 in Larnaka in 2012.“We just believed in ourselves”, added Saraev. “We kept strong. We thought about our mother, fathers, sisters, brothers, coaches and our country. We wanted to make them proud.”But their positive flow was brutally interrupted by two 17-year olds from Mexico, who travelled abroad for the first time. Fifteenth seeded Sarabia and Stephens already impressed in the …

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