India continues to be the surprise team of the tournament. It scored eight straight points to bounce back from a 7-4 deficit to Russia in the fifth set to capture a 25-22, 26-28, 33-31, 22-25, 15-11 victory.
Singh Gurinder led India’s offense with 29 points, while Jacob Manidurai Naveen Raja scored six of his 26 points in the deciding fifth set. Mandeep Singh added 14 points in the victory. Russia’s Levan Kalandadze scored a tournament-high 41 points in the match including 36 kills, three blocks and two aces. Artem Volvich and Alexander Markin added 11 points in the loss.
Although Russia had a 15-11 advantage in blocks and 72-71 margin in kills, it was India winning the serving battle with a 6-4 margin. India, which upset USA on the final day of first round pool play, had a seven-point difference in opponent errors in its favor at 33-26.
Russia Head Coach Vladimir Kondra: Russia Captain Valentin Bezrokov: India Head Coach M.H. Kumara: India Captain Mandeep Singh:
“India played a very good game. We will try again tomorrow against Belgium.”
“During the game, coach tried to make some changes and they worked in the fourth set.”
“I think everybody played well. In the fifth set, it was a great comeback and Naveen (#18) played well. Now I hop this does not go to their heads. At least one more win to go. But overall, an excellent performance tonight.”
“We gained a lot of confidence by beating the American team and that helped us today.”
