Hangzhou, China, September 19, 2023 – Strong teams pulled off convincing wins against lower-ranked opponents on the opening day of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 Men’s Volleyball Competition, which kicked off in three competition venues here on Tuesday.
As Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Pakistan got their campaign off to brilliant starts with comfortable straight-set wins in the quadrennial sports extravaganza, Bahrain and Kazakhstan were handed serious threats from their rivals but bounced back to stop them in exhausting four and five sets respectively.
With only top two teams from each pool after the pool round-robin preliminaries advancing to the next round, the first-day win counted for a lot for all teams since it augurs well for their bright chances of making the cut for the next round.
At Linping Sports Center Gymnasium, the opening Pool D match saw Pakistan power past Mongolia in comfortable straight sets 25-17, 25-19, 25-20 for first victory in the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Opposite spiker Murad Khan was the most productive player for Pakistan to deliver 25 points from 18 attacks, 4 blocks and 3 aces, while devastating left-hander Khangal Tamiraa led Mongolia with 13 points including 12 attacks from 22 attempts.
Pakistan, which finished seventh at the last month’s Urmia-hosted Asian Senior Men’s Championship in Iran, made a solid start to lead with 7-point clear at 16-9 in the first set, thanks to Faryad Ali Usman’s powerful jump serves and Murad Khan’s spectacular attacks. The well-established Pakistani side extended it to 23-13, but dropped their rhythm shortly after that, leaving Mongolia to win three points in a row to reduce the margin to 16-23. To make short work of the Mongolians, Pakistan allowed them only one more point from Batsuuri Battur’s swift attack to wrap up the first set 25-17.
Both sides were locked to a tight contest early in the second set, which saw the pace-setters Pakistan unable to leave the opponents with more than two points until halfway at 17-15. However, they started to gain control after that to clinch the set 25-19.
Holding 2-0 advantage, Pakistan came up with consistency and confidence in the third set to lead by wide margin of 18-11 and reached the match point at 24-18. The gallant Mongolians clawed their way back, with Khangal countering with powerful spikes to save two match points, forcing Pakistan to ask for timeout. Their intention paid off impressively when Murad Khan hammered an aggressive attack which went unanswered to help Pakistan end the rivals’ challenge.
“We hope high to finish among Top 5 and for us, each match is the final. Mongolia are strong team and play with high level. The most important part of our game today is our side-outs as you know, with your sideouts working pretty well, your strategic plan can also go your way. We next take on Chinese Taipei and we respect them a lot because they are one of the top teams. As we have only 24 hours to rest and prepare. So, we have to watch their videos and prepare our team for tomorrow’s match,” Pakistan head coach Issanaye Ramires Ferraz from Brazil commented after the match.
Pakistan next take on Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, while Mongolia will play a must-win match against Chinese Taipei on Thursday to keep their high hopes of advancing to the next round alive.
In the second encounter at this competition hall, AVC Challenge Cup winners Thailand proved too strong for Hong Kong, China to brush off the unfancied opponents in easy straight sets 25-17, 25-16, 25-13 in Pool E.
Opposite spiker Napadet Bhinijdee topscored for Thailand with 17 points including 16 attacks from 24 attempts, while no Hong Kong, China player scored double digits. Opposite spiker Kong Cheuk Hin and Tam Chun Ho Damian scored 7 points apiece on the Hong Kong China’s losing effort.
“I think it’s entertaining match today. Before this match, we thoroughly studied their tapes and since we beat them every time we played them, we then played more confidently today. We played well, especially our service and I think it’s a comfortable win against Hong Kong, China. We next take on Qatar and though we lost all matches against them, we will try our best and hope for the best that we will beat them tomorrow,” said Thailand captain Kissada Nilsawai.
“We lost two times to Qatar, but this time I need to change the result of the game. It’s not easy, but I hope my team will try their best. Against Hong Kong China today, I think my team played with good concentration and made not too many unforced mistakes, especially on serves. We are in good condition now,” Thailand head coach Mr Park Ki Won from Korea commented after the match.
Thailand will next challenge Qatar, the team they had lost twice this year consisting of 0-3 loss in the Doha-hosted FIVB Challenger Cup and another 0-3 disappointment in the round of last 12 at the last month’s Asian Senior Men’s Championship in Urmia, Iran. Hong Kong, China are due to take on the Qataris on Thursday, the final day of the preliminary round.
At China Textile City Gymnasium, Kazakhstan produced comeback 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 25-15, 18-25, 15-11) win against Kyrgyzstan in their opening Pool A match. Veteran Vitaliy Vorivodin and Vladislav Kunchenko scored 20 points apiece to steer Kazakhstan to the dramatic win, while Omurbek Zhunusov scored a match-high 23 points in the Kyrgyzstan’s loss.
As Kazakhstan will have a rest day on Wednesday, Kyrgyzstan will next face a daunting task against hosts and last year’s AVC Cup champions China, which had their sights firmly set on winning the Asian Games title on home soil this time after the 25-year drought since they had last claimed gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Thailand.
In Pool B, Bahrain, eighth place at the last month’s Asian Senior Men’s Championship, bounced back from the first set loss to put it past Nepal in dramatic four-setter 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-15.
Outside hitter Abdulla Mohamed Yaqoob chipped in with 23 points from 17 attacks, 3 blocks and 3 aces for Bahrain, while outside hitter Awasthi Tek Raj scored 14 points including 11 attacks from 29 attempts in the Nepal’s loss.
A tough test awaits Nepal when they will go up against defending and consecutive two-time champions Iran on Wednesday. Bahrain will play their last Pool B match on Thursday.
India also made their mark in Pool C following their sensational 25-14, 25-13, 25-19 win against Cambodia.
Middle blocker Rai Ashwal contributed 17 points from 8 attacks, team-leading 6 blocks and 3 aces for India, while outside hitter Kuon Mom led Cambodia with 7 points including 6 attacks from 20 attempts.
India next challenge Korea, silver medallists at the previous Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018, while Cambodia will have a rest day.
At Deqing Sports Gymnasium, world No.5 and newly-crowned Asian champions Japan, fielding their second-string squad in the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, got off to a good start with straight-set win 26-24, 25-22, 25-8 against Afghanistan in their opening Pool F encounter on Tuesday.
Opposite spiker Keihan Takashshi chipped in with 16 points from 14 attacks and one point each in blocking and serving for Japan. The Japanese side also limited the rivals’ offense to the point that no Afghan player got to reach double digits in scoring against them. Outside hitter Gulam Rasool Haidari contributed 8 points, all in attacks on the Afghanistan’s loss.
The Japan’s dominance was also visible in the match stats as the winners dominated in kills (46 to 32), blocks (7 to 3) and aces (4 to 2) besides benefiting from more opponent errors (19 to 16).
Japan are due to next take on Indonesia on Wednesday, with Afghanistan pitted against Philippines.
In another Pool F encounter on Tuesday, the Philippines locked horns with Indonesia in the closely-contested all-Southeast Asians battle before going down to the Southeast Asian Games gold medallists in hard-fought straight sets 25-22, 25-23, 25-20.
Opposite spiker Anggara Agil Angga emerged as the top scorer of Indonesia after bagging 11 points including 10 attacks, while Putratama Fahri Septian, Zulfi Hernanda and Haryono Doni kept good company to add 10, 9 and 9 points respectively. Bryan Bagunas scored 19 points in the Philippines’ loss.
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