Tsvetan Sokolov led Cucine Lube Civitanova to a remarkable win over defending champions Zenit Kazan and a ticket to the semifinals of the 2018 FIVB Men's Club World Championship in Poland.
Plock, Poland, November 27, 2018 - Fakel Novy Urengoy of Russia and Cucine Lube Civitanova of Italy extended their records to two wins after remarkable matches Tuesday night and secured tickets from Pool A to the semifinals of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship.
The two will meet Thursday, the closing day of the pool in Plock, to decide first place and set up the semifinals pairings.
Defending champions Zenit Kazan and hosts PGE Skra Belchatow both remain winless and have crashed out of the tournament.
Fakel Novy Urengoy players celebrate, as they beat hosts PGE Skra Belchatow to make the semifinals of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship.Tuesday highlights in Plock:• Lube were trailing Kazan 10-14 in the tie-break before coming back to take a thrilling and historical win in the rematch of last year's final.
• Fakel came back from two sets down and 12-18 in the third to beat Skra, cancelling a match point of the Poles in the third and two more in the tie-break.
• At 2 hours 25 minutes, the Lube v Kazan match was the longest in the history of the FIVB Club World Championships. It broke the 2:23 mark of the Fakel v Kazan game the previous night in Plock.
• But the record only stood for a few hours. Fakel and Skra played for 2:40 minutes later on Tuesday to shatter that duration.
• Prior to the current edition, the longest match had been 2:21 from the Trentino Diatec v UPCN San Juan (ARG) game in 2014 at Belo Horizonte.
• More duration records: Tuesday's two tie-breaks in Plock, both lasting 30 minutes, were the longest in the history of the competition. The previous longest tie-break had been 23 minutes in three matches in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
• The total score in the Fakel v Skra game was 248 points (126-122), also a new record of highest-scoring match in the history of the Club World Championship. The previous was 243 from the Trentino v UPCN match of 2014.
• Egor Kliuka of Fakel was the day's top scorer on Tuesday in Plock with 28 points.
• Kliuka is alone at the top of the best scorers list with a total of 48 in two games. Three players, Artur Udrys (Fakel), Dmitry Volkov (Fakel) and Earvin Ngapeth (Kazan) share second place on 41 each.
Results & Match Centres of Tuesday:•
Cucine Lube Civitanova (ITA) - Zenit Kazan (RUS) 3-2
•
Fakel Novy Urengoy (RUS) - PGE Skra Belchatow (POL) 3-2
The top two teams from each pool travel to Czestochowa on Friday, ahead of crosswise semifinals on Saturday and the medals matches on Sunday.
Teams in Pool A, at Plock, enjoy a rest day on Wednesday, with action only in Pool B in Rzezow.
Wednesday's Match Centres in Rzeszow:•
Sada Cruzeiro Contagem (BRA) v Diatecx Trentino (ITA) at 17:30 local time (16:30 GMT)
•
Khatam Ardakan (IRI) v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow (POL) at 20:45 local time (19:45 GMT)
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