A victory over continental rivals Chile on Saturday has pushed Argentina into the elimination rounds of the 2023 FIVB Girls’ U19 World Championship in Szeged, Hungary.

With three victories in four matches in Pool A, the South Americans join pool leaders China as the two first national teams guaranteed a spot in the Round of 16 of the tournament in the pool – Hungary, Egypt and Cameroon fight for the remaining two berths.

The tournament is streamed live on the Volleyball World YouTube channel.

Coming from back-to-back victories, Argentina maintained their good form against Chile and overcame their South American rivals 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-18) in Szeged to advance.

Outside hitter Martina Bednarek was one of the top scorers of the match with 14 points (ten kills, one ace, three blocks) – she got a solid contribution from middle blocker Bianca Garibaldi, who tallied ten points. Chilean captain and opposite Petra Hechenleitner also had 14 points, with 12 kills, one ace and one block.

Also in Szeged, Italy defeated Thailand 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-19) in Pool C.

2023 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U19 World Championship: Match Schedule and Results

In Pool D, hosted in Osijek, Croatia, Japan also booked their tickets to the elimination rounds with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-13) victory against Mexico. The Japanese also got to three wins in four matches and, as well as the United States and Poland, can no longer be reached by the eliminated Mexico and winless Korea, who battle Serbia for the last spot in the Round of 16.

Outside hitters Miku Akimoto and Riri Kasai shared the main scoring duties for the Asian team, producing 14 and 13 points respectively. Mexico had outside hitter Isabella Ocampo, with seven points, as their most efficient offensive player.

“We know the Mexican team very well,” Kasai reacted. “It was crucial today that we successfully finished our attacks. Our goal here is to become the champions and we are working hard for it.”

The other match scheduled to take place in Osijek in the first session of the day, involving Puerto Rico and Nigeria, ended with a forfeit win by the Caribbeans.

The fourth day of pool play continues at the Girls’ U19 World Championship later in the afternoon, with two matches at each location. In Osijek, at 18:00 local time (16:00 UTC), Serbia will face Korea in Pool D while Croatia battle the Dominican Republic in Pool B. In Szeged, Hungary challenge Egypt in Pool A at the same time, with the duel between Brazil and Bulgaria in Pool C starting five minutes later.

The night round in Osijek, set to begin at 21:00 local time (19:00 UTC), will have the USA meeting Poland in Pool D and the encounter between Türkiye and Germany in Pool B. In Szeged, Cameron and China will duel in Pool A also at 21:00 local time (19:00 UTC) with Peru and Canada completing the schedule of the day in Pool C at 21:05 local time (19:05 UTC).

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