The eight national teams that continue in the race for the title will have a day off before returning to the court for Thursday’s quarterfinal matches, which will have Italy facing Iran at 11:00 local time (8:00 GMT), Argentina playing Egypt at 14:00 (11:00), Belgium meeting Spain at 17:00 (14:00) and Brazil dueling with the Chinese Taipei at 20:00 (17:00).
Standing at the top of the scoring charts with 110 points, the 16-year-old, left-handed Huang propelled the Chinese Taipei to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-9, 25-18, 25-16) comeback win over Puerto Rico with a superb 26-point (22 kills, two blocks, two aces) performance, his third-best in four matches in Sofia. Puerto Rico’s leading scorer was outside hitter Adrian Carrillo, with 12 points.
In the quarterfinals, the Asians will face Brazil, the only team which is yet to drop a set in the tournament. On Tuesday, the South Americans got their fourth sweep in Sofia, beating Libya 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-19) with 15 points from outside hitter Lucas Carvalho. Libyan opposite Muezbillah Balnnour had another solid performance, with 13 points.