MANILA, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- World No. 20 Finland pulled off a huge upset at the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship after holding off two-time Olympic champion France here on Tuesday.
Having lost to Argentina in full sets on Sunday, Finland claimed a 3-2 (25-19, 17-25, 29-27, 21-25, 15-9) victory over the world No. 4 France side to improve to a 1-1 win-loss record in Group C.
Opposite Joonas Mikael Jokela had 17 kills and three aces to lead Finland with a team-high 20 points, with outside hitter Luka Marttila and middle blocker Petteri Tyynismaa adding 15 and 13 points respectively.
"Obviously, the feeling was amazing! There were a lot of Finnish fans in the arena, so it was even more amazing in front of them, especially when we were playing volleyball like that," said Jokela afterwards.
"We started great against Argentina as well, and I think we did the same thing today. At moments, we played great volleyball, and at moments, not so great. But we got a lot of support from the bench today and I think that turned the game our way."
France outspiked Finland 58-49, but they were outblocked 14-10 and gave away 39 points through errors, compared to 31 for Finland.
Also in Group C, Argentina beat South Korea 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18) for its second straight win.
Later on Tuesday, world No. 17 Belgium produced another upset win by downing world No. 2 Italy 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13) in Group F, where Ukraine eased past Algeria 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-11).
In Group A, hosts the Philippines defeated Egypt 3-1 (29-27, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21) for their first victory at the World Championship, while Iran rallied past Tunisia 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-16). Sharing a 1-1 record, Tunisia, Iran, Egypt and the Philippines all kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage.
"I am super happy that we got the win, and I am happy that I played well," said Leo Ordiales, who had 19 kills and two aces to score 21 points for the Philippines. "After the loss to Tunisia, we talked about our errors and practiced a lot, so now we played well."
In Group H, Brazil overpowered the Czech Republic 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-18) for its second win in a row while Serbia beat China 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 29-27).
32 teams are taking part in the round-robin preliminaries in eight groups, with the top two finishers from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
