Czechia relied on Patrik Indra’s 29-point explosion to sweep also-ran China, 26-24, 25-19, 25-18, and advance to the Round of 16 in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
On a mission to win in straight sets to secure the tiebreak in the three-way tie at 2-1 in Pool H, Indra took matters into his own hands, delivering 23 kills, four blocks, and two aces to set up a Last 16 clash against Pool A leader Tunisia on Tuesday.
“Yesterday, we went to sleep thinking we would need just two sets to advance to the next round. In the morning, we found out that we needed to win 3-0, so the situation really changed for us. It was kind of a tough afternoon and not such a nice sleep,” said Indra.
“But we told ourselves: we need to go point by point, don’t think about the 3-0 result. And we did it nicely from the first set.”
Czechia’s win eliminated idle Brazil by virtue of a superior set ratio, finishing second in Pool H, while Serbia won the tiebreak in points ratio.
Serbia will face Iran—who broke the heart of the Philippines in a tight fifth set—in a knockout game on the same day.
Jan Galabov contributed 11 points, with Antonin Klimes adding 10 for Czechia.
China ended their campaign winless, with Wang Bin as the lone double-digit scorer, finishing with 12 points.
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