Caguas, Gurabo, Juncos and Maunabo, Puerto Rico, September 14, 2015 - With the fall of defending champions China, the landscape for Women’s U20 age group is going to change at the end of the World Championships in Puerto Rico, as a new team will arise to the throne. Second round is about to start with eight outstanding teams up to the challenge - Brazil, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Peru, Russia and Serbia.
Gurabo will be one of the main scenarios for this battle, as the venue for a Pool E that will start with the clash between Russia and Serbia. These two European powerhouses have already entered the Top 8 at the last edition in Brno, Czech Republic, and now they are looking forward to climb even higher in the final ranking. While Russia hold a spotless record with three wins and 9-0 in sets, current European champions Serbia are responsible for the Chinese elimination, after a terrific five-setter on Sunday afternoon.
Pool E will be completed by Italy and Brazil, in a rematch of 2013 bronze medal match which went for the South American queens. However, this time the roles have shifted as the Italian ladies are the ones unstoppable so far, still unbeaten as Pool C winners. Brazil was brought down by Dominican Republic at the very end of group stage and for sure they used the day off to regroup, aware that the most important part of the competition is yet to come.
Precisely, the Dominican girls will be among the teams to watch at Pool F, to be played in Juncos. Two years ago, Dominican Republic finished the World Championship at the eighth place, meaning that they have already reached that and they have plenty of room to improve. At that quest, current silver medalists Japan will be their first obstacle, with their energetic defence as the very heart of their style of play.
Last but not least, Bulgaria and Peru are scheduled to meet in the last one at this batch of second round matches. For both of them it’s a remarkable campaign by now, as they were out of the eight main teams in 2013, but they still aim high, with Peru pumped with energy after claiming a tremendous pool over Serbia and China. Now they will meet the only team of the competition with two players among the ten best scorers - Bulgaria, as the duo of outside spikers formed by Gergana Dimitrova and Miroslava Paskova has scored over than 100 points already in Puerto Rico.
The rest of the teams will struggle for the ninth place, following the same formula of two four-team pools. Maunabo will welcome Pool G with Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Mexico and Czech Republic, while Caguas is ready to receive host team Puerto Rico alongside China, Egypt and Turkey on Pool H action.