16 teams from four continents will compete in the eighth-finals of the V Men’s Youth World Championship in Hungary. The first knockout round will be played in Budaörs and Erd on Sunday (18 August). The winners will play two days later the quarterfinals. The loosers will compete in the placement round on Monday 19 August.

Budaörs:

14:00 Belarus vs. Sweden

Sweden finished on top of group A with five victories in five matches. The Scandinavians are one of the favourites in the tournament. They had been playing in the preliminary round on a really high level. Belarus were performing during the first round in their typical stile consisting of a lot of individual skills and power.

 

16:15 Croatia vs. Austria

Croatia were defeated for the first time at their last game of the preliminary round against Spain. The South-East Europeans were the lucky winners in the match against Brazil. Austria made it without any difficulties into the knockout stages. They proved against host Hungary that they are capable to play under pressure and show a strong performance.

 

18:30 Slovenia vs. Egypt

Egypt had a quiet confident performance during the first three match days. But then they suddenly they lost their shape and played chanceless against Sweden. However, three victories were enough to reach the 2nd place in preliminary round group A. Slovenia had not been playing consistently during the first round. It is difficult to evaluate the team after the preliminary round.

20:45 Brazil vs. Germany

Germany was one of three teams that reached the eights-finals without any loss of points. It was masterful. But the tournament restarts now. And only  a few weeks ago the German junior team lost, as group winner, the eighth-finals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Brazil presented themselves in Hungary as the most powerful non-European team. Against Croatia and France, the talents from South America lost extremely unlucky. Otherwise they even would have been on top of their group.

 

Erd:

14:00 France vs. Norway

Not even qualified for the tournament – andnow in the eighth final. Thanks to a brilliant defence and high individual skills France was one of top teams in the preliminary round. “l'Équipe tricolore” also played well as a team. But also Norway is in a really good shape. They lost only at the start against the strong Germans. The Scandinavians played very strongly in particular against hosts Hungary. They go with team spirit and without fear in this knockout match.

 

16:15 Denmark vs. Romania

Denmark is the defending champion. The team played superiorly so far. That's why the Danish team won their preliminary group without difficulty. There, the Danes are the clear favourite against Romania. Romania surprised. At the beginning of the tournament the talents from the Balkans were without a chance against Sweden. And against South Korea, the Romanians had caught a bad day. The Romanian team needs to increase enormously. Otherwise, the team against Denmark has no chance.

 

18:30 Spain vs. Hungary

The Iberians stand in good tradition as the current men team was established from former junior and youth teams. And the men's team as we know is the World Champion. Spain defeated Croatia on the final day of the preliminary round. The team had the stronger commitment and also a little bit of luck. Hungary was disappointing so far. The hosts won none of their three matches against European teams. The Hungarians must increase enormously or otherwise, the quarter-finals will take place without the host.

 

20:45 Serbia vs. Qatar

The 2nd place in the preliminary round of this Men’s Youth World Championship is already a great success for the talents from Qatar. However, the Asians are outsiders against Serbia. Nevertheless, it remains an exciting game because both teams still played inconsistently in the last few days. Serbia played so far, as the weather in the spring: sometimes sun, sometimes rain. The Serbs won their matches against Egypt but were defeated against Denmark and Belarus.