Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, August 8, 2022 – Australia saw off young India in comfortable straight sets 25-17, 25-20, 25-12 to capture their first win in Pool C in the 2022 AVC Cup for Men at the Nakhon Pathom Provincial Gymnasium here on Monday.
Fielding most players who competed in VNL and the recent Korea-hosted FIVB Challenger Cup, Australia made a strong start, with the 206cm-tall left-hander Matthew Aubrey penetrating the Indian defence with his powerful attacks to put the team ahead 4-1 before stretching it to 10-6. The momentum was with Coach David Preston’s tall players and they continued to put India under enormous pressure, utilising their height advantage and amazing power at the net to widen the margin with a four-point clear at 18-14.
Despite sending their national U20 squad, India retained good ability beyond their age as they fought back bravely to reduce the gap to 16-20. Still, the Aussies proved how far they had come. Tanish Choudhary fired an off-the-block attack to hand the Indian side the last point in this set since moments later, Australia did not look back to peel off five consecutive points, with talented Matthew winning the team’s last two, one from his ace serve and another one from his powerful back-row attack. The Aussies took the first set 25-17.
India, which succumbed to their first loss to Japan on Sunday, tried hard to recover from a slow start shown in the first set, but they still found Australia too strong in the second set. With Matthew unleashing back-to-back attacks, the Aussies raced to an initial 8-4 lead. However, India heightened their defence, allowing the tough rivals scoring difficulty and at the same time struck back with aggressive cross-court spikes and effective drop shots to catch up with the rivals at 12-12.
The on-going battle became tight with the Aussies surging away and the Indians attempting on followups. Leading commandingly 23-19, Australia allowed India only one more point before Thomas Heptinstall carried out a well-placed serve which went unanswered. Australia claimed the thrilling set 25-20.
Australia still took command in the third set to lead 7-2, thanks to terrific display including their solid blocks and powerful attacks from instrumental captain Beau Graham. As the Indian nerves began to fray, Australia grabbed the opportunity to bag consecutive points through their mighty attacks and aces to widen the margin with a 10-point advantage at 18-8. Despite putting up a gallant fight to get their good game back on track, India still had no answer to Matthew’s great attacks. Australia wrapped up this one-sided set 25-12 and match.
Beau Graham topped all scorers with 20 points from 15 attacks and 5 effective blocks, while teammates Thomas Heptinstall and Matthew Aubrey kept good company to add 13 and 10 points respectively. Giri Harshit led India with 10 attack points.
“I feel proud with the way my players played today. We did a good job but there are lots of details everyone has to do including managing and serving pressure. I think our defence is okay, but we still need to play a bit stronger. We need to improve on that area when we will next play Japan tomorrow. I’m proud of their composure,” said Australia head coach David Preston after the match.
With only top two teams from each pool advancing, India had suffered two straight losses and are quite sure of missing the cut for the round of the last eight teams.
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation