Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, August 8, 2019 – Chinese Taipei, bronze medalists at both previous editions, narrowly beat Sri Lanka in hotly-contested three-setter 26-24, 25-23, 26-24 at their last Top 8 playoff match at the SMM 3rd Asian Men’s U23 Volleyball Championship at Hall B inside the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Chinese Taipei overcame a strong challenge from Sri Lanka in the opening set, making use of devastating attacks from Chang Yu-Sheng to take the close battle 26-24.
Sri Lanka upped their tempo and hit back in the second set, but Chinese Taipei continued their onslaughts. Both sides played with almost the same level, but Chinese Taipei fared better at the final assault to snare the closely-contested set 25-23.
Conceding two sets in a row, the Sri Lankans gave it all out in the third set and their great determination bore fruits when they levelled it 23-23 before stretching it with one-point clear at 24-23. They needed only one more point to win the set, but they just let the win slip through their fingers. The tough rivals roared back to catch up with the crack oppositions 24-24 and hold their nerves to take both points for the set win 26-24 and match.
Chang Yu-Sheng chipped in with 20 points including 18 kills for Chinese Taipei, while Yen Chen-Fu contributed 10 points through attack hits and well-placed serves. Kavindu Chandrasiri topscored with 21 points for Sri Lanka.
After the match, Chinese Taipei head coach Moro Branislav said, “My players could not maintain concentration today. The main problem was their mentality that they assumed they played better ahead of the match and that’s why they stopped playing at some moments. Sri Lanka are also a good team. Their match against Pakistan yesterday was very tough and they earned a winning set against their fighting opponents.”
Chang Yu-Sheng said, “We are very tired and all of the team members were not in a good condition physically today. Despite powerful attacks from our rivals, we tried to overcome them and win the match in straight sets and we did.”
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: https://twitter.com/avcvolley
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation