Urmia, Iran, August 25, 2023 – Japan smashed Qatar’ sweet dreams of advancing to their unprecedented final at the 22nd Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship at Al Ghadir Hall 1 after defeating the Qataris in hard-fought four-set thriller.
The dramatic 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-14, 28-26) win earned Japan a spot in the final of the eight-day championship. The unbeaten Japanese will battle it out for the eventual title with the winners of the other semifinal match between Iran and China.
In the Friday’s match, Ran Takahashi chipped in with 19 points for Japan including 18 attacks. Raimi Wadidie led Qatar with 14 points.
Qatar, spearheaded by powerful Yousse Oughlaf, made a solid start and caught fire shortly after that. With Raimi Wadidie and Ibrahim Mohamed attacking spectacularly at the wing, the Qataris clinched the first set 25-22.
Conceding one set, Japan came back much stronger at the beginning of the second set. Yuji Nishida and Yuki Ishikawa were devastating as they joined forces in penetrating the Qataris’ defence with their powerful attacks to help the Japanese clinch the hard-fought set 25-18.
With the Qataris riddled with several unforced attacking mistakes in the third set, Japan brushed off Qatar in comfortable set 25-14.
Both teams shone through their exceptional form in the fourth set with Japan hoping to close the match and Qatar attempting to make a comeback. Though putting up an aggressive fightback, Qatar found the rivals uncatchable as Japan stormed on to win the close set 28-26, match and a final berth.
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