By Marie Louise Principe
Chiba, Japan, September 16, 2021 – Chinese Taipei won 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22) against Pakistan as matches resumed on Thursday for the Quarterfinal stage of the 21st Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship at the Chiba Port Arena. The match places Chinese Taipei in a good position toward the Final Four.
Opposite hitter Wu Tsung-Hsuan scored 31 points on 29 attacks and 2 blocks for Chinese Taipei’s fourth straight win in the competition.
Pakistan started the match, taking high-risk serves, that seemed to have given challenge to their opponents’ passing. Khan Aimal and Usman Faryad Ali manned the flanks and delivered the points.
Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei set their plays to the right wing with Wu Tsung-Hsuan, but later on, their opponents started to impose stronger defense toward his attacks. Setter Ju-Chien Tai tried to bring his plays to the middle which proved successful. He also tried setting up Wu Tsung-Hsuan on the left, adding more variation to their offense. Chinese Taipei took their momentum toward a 25-20 finish in the first set.
In the second set, Chinese Taipei saw Chang Yu-Sheng deliver more from the left side and even from the pipe.
Pakistan engaged Afaq Khan from the left side, to provide annex Aimal’s right side rampage. The opposite posted good success from his flan, gaining the edge in eight and elevation over the opponents’ blockers. Pakistan could easily make decisions to vary the speed and direction of their attacks as they had a taller line-up.
Chinese Taipei tried to switch to their taller substitutes to reinforce the frontline, but they were unable to find the best solution to prevent Pakistan’s 25-22 win in the second set.
By the next set, the Pakistan side persisted to serve well, and they could manage to bounce back for the counter-attack.
Chinese Taipei continued to set Wu Tsung-Hsuan as he posted a good measure of success from the right side.
The teams played along each side-out, until Chinese Taipei took the set point with Chan Min-Han’s attack, followed by a block to seal set 3 at 25-23.
The fourth set saw a tight contest, with each team sticking to their known strengths. Pakistan knew their edge in height, for which their opponents tried to work along with.
Chinese Taipei tried to play better in the second line of defense in order to reset their attacks.
Lin Yi-Huei also succeeded in connecting on block defense, which gave the team more momentum, while their opponents suffered from errors. They took the fourth set, 25-22.
Chinese Taipei will face defending champions Iran at 15:00 local time, while Pakistan will play against Korea in the first match (09:30 local) at the Chiba Port Arena on Friday.
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