Lausanne, Switzerland, September 3, 2017 – The second South American spot at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in Italy and Bulgaria went to Argentina. The hosts of the CSV qualification tournament finished it off with a straight-set victory over Venezuela and topped the final standings unbeaten. This will be the 11th consecutive time, and 12th overall, Argentina play at the World Championship. Their best finish so far was the bronze medal from 1982, when they hosted the finals.
The CSV qualification was a three-way tournament, taking place from August 30 through September 2 in the Argentinean cities of Jujuy and Salta. Argentina, Chile and Venezuela contested the single South American vacancy at Italy-Bulgaria 2018 that was still available. The tournament winner Argentina joins Brazil, the 2017 South American champions, to complete the continent’s contingent for the World Championship finals, scheduled to take place from September 10 through 30, 2018.
The sell-out crowd at the Polideportivo Delmi in the Argentinean city of Salta, cheered their favourites on to a speedy win against bottom-placed Venezuela. Coach Julio Velasco’s squad took only 64 minutes to complete a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-12) sweep and finish on top of the table with a 2-0 record, followed by Chile with 1-1 and Venezuela with 0-2.
Two Argentineans, Cristian Poglajen and Santiago Darraidou, shared the top scorer honours. They scored 13 points each and became the only players to reach double digits during the match. Venezuela’s most prolific player Jhonlen Barreto ended up with nine points. Argentina’s setter Luciano De Cecco was recognized for reaching 300 caps with the national team.