The 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's U23 World Championship was the third and final edition of the international volleyball tournament and the world championship for men's national teams under the age of 23, organized by the sport's world governing body, FIVB. The tournament was held in Cairo, Egypt from 18 to 25 August 2017. 12 teams from the 5 confederations competed in the tournament.
Argentina defeated defending champions Russia 4–2 in the final to claim their first title in the competition. This marked Argentina's first ever world title at any age group. Cuba won the bronze medal outclassing Brazil 4–1. Germán Johansen from Argentina was elected the MVP.
After this tournament, FIVB declared that "As per decision of May 2019 FIVB Board of Administration, the U23 WCH has been abolished."
Qualification The FIVB Sports Events Council revealed a proposal to streamline the number of teams participating in the Age Group World Championships.
Means of QualificationDateVenueVacanciesQualifiersHost Nation2 February 2016 Lausanne12016 South American Championship21–25 June 2016 Cartagena12016 European Qualifiers27–31 July 2016 Zagreb22016 Pan-American CupFor CSV5–10 September 2016 Guanajuato City1For NORCECA22017 African Championship21–22 February 2017 Algiers12017 Asian Championship1–9 May 2017 Ardabil2World RankingJanuary 2017 Lausanne2Total12
Pools composition Teams were seeded following the Serpentine system according to their FIVB U23 World Ranking as of January 2017. FIVB reserved the right to seed the hosts as head of pool A regardless of the U23 World Ranking. Rankings are shown in brackets except the hosts who ranked 10th.
Pool APool B (Hosts) (1) (4) (3) (5) (6) (11) (7) Poland (12) (13) (25) (17)
Squads
Venues All matches CairoCairo Stadium Halls Complex 1 & 2Capacity: 20,000
Testing of new rules The 2017 FIVB Men's U23 World Championship will be a testing ground for a new scoring scheme currently under review by the FIVB, which, if successful, could mark a historical turning point for volleyball – much as the introduction of the Rally Scoring System did in the late 1990s.
Matches in Cairo will be played to best-of-seven sets with each set to 15 points (with at least a two-point difference needed). Three ranking points will be awarded to teams winning 4–0, 4–1 or 4–2. Two points go the winner of a 4–3 match with one point for the loser. It is hoped that the new scoring system will reduce overall duration of matches, while making each set more attractive and exciting – much as tie-breaks are under the current regulations. The interval between sets is reduced to two minutes (from three). Teams will switch ends after the second set - and also, if needed, after sets 4, 5 and 6. In addition, there will be no technical timeouts – just two regular thirty-second timeouts per team per set.
The basic principles for the new scheme were tested for the first time in the Dutch League in the 2016–17 season. Further testing of the scheme will be conducted at the Women's U23 World Championship in Ljubljana. During and after the competition, players, coaches, referees and officials will be evaluating the new system through a questionnaire, while duration and scoring statistics will be gathered and analysed.
This is the second time that the Men's U23 World Championship serves as a testbed for new regulations. Matches of the inaugural edition in 2013 in Uberlândia were played to 21-point sets. In addition to the scoring system, a new serving regulation will be tried out in Cairo, with the server not allowed to land inside the court after a jump service.
The testing of the new rules has been received with criticism from the volleyball community.
Pool standing procedure Number of matches won Match points Sets ratio Points ratio Result of the last match between the tied teams
Match won 4–0, 4–1 or 4–2: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loser Match won 4–3: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser
Preliminary round All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00).
Pool A
Pool B
Final round All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00).
5th–8th places
5th–8th semifinals
7th-place match
5th-place match
Final four
Semifinals
3rd-place match
Final
Final standing
RankTeam45678911
12–man rosterMatías Sánchez, Brian Melgarejo, Jan Martínez, Edgar Vieira, Ignacio Luengas, Gaspar Bitar, Santiago Danani, Liam Arreche, Gastón Fernández (c), Agustín Loser, Andrés Arduino, Germán JohansenHead coachCamilo Soto
Awards
Most valuable player Germán Johansen Best setter Matías Sánchez Best outside spikers Denis Bogdan Miguel Gutiérrez Best middle blockers Ivan Iakovlev Matheus Santos Best opposite spiker Hisham Ewais Best libero Rogério Filho
See also 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship
References
External links Official website