Opening Statement! USA Sweeps Belgium, onto Serbia.

Mannheim, Germany (July 22, 2023) - The United States earned a 3:0 (11:3, 11:4, 11:3) win against Belgium in the teams opening match at the 2023 IFA Men’s World Championships. American Todd Strassberger’s serves overwhelmed the Belgians as the United States won 14 points off service alone. The United States was able to use all ten of their players in the match, including the World Cup debut of Danny Simon-Slowinski. The Americans move to 1-0 in Group D with a share of first place in the group with Denmark, who opened their World Championships with a 3:1 victory over Serbia.

The United States will now face Serbia (0-1) on Sunday July 23rd at 11:30am local time (5:30am EST) at Rhein-Neckar Stadium. Serbia comes into the match needing a win to stay alive in Group D after suffering a 3:1 (11-4, 9-11, 11-3, 11-1) defeat to Denmark to start their World Championship campaign.

Serbia and the United States have met twice before, both times occurring at the 2011 World Championships in Austria. The Serbs defeated the Americans 3:2 in group play that year, but the United States took the 9th place match in straight sets 3:0. Serbia will prove once again to be a tough out after finishing 13th at the 2019 World Championships and a 6th place finish at last summers European Championships.

Tune into Fistball.tv Sunday July 23rd at 11:30am local time (5:30am ET, 4:30am CT) for all of the action. Reminder to follow USA Fistball on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the 2023 World Championships in Mannheim, Germany.

Photo: Ines Maringer (IFA)