Surabaya, Indonesia, July 28, 2024 – Following the conclusion of the action-packed Top 8 round of the 22nd Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship at Jawa Pos Arena and Gelora Pancasila here on Sunday, the matchups and updated schedule for do-or-die semifinals have been confirmed, with hosts Indonesia going up against title-holders Iran and unbeaten Japan fighting it out with formidable Korea.
In the classification round for 1-8 on Sunday, the Pool E encounters saw India, silver medallists at the previous edition in Riffa, Bahrain two years ago, survive a scare from Saudi Arabia to beat the fighting opponents in hard-fought four-setter 25-22, 27-29, 25-16, 33-31.
Opposite Aryan Baliyan chipped in 22 points from 21 kills and one block for India, while outside hitters Soham Dinesh More and Kartik Sharma contributed 21 and 15 points respectively. Rashad Abuelkhir scored a match-high 25 points including 22 kills from 38 attempts on the Saudi Arabia’s loss.
In another Pool E clash, former three-time winners Japan continued their unbeaten run in this topflight championship following their closely-contested 28-26, 25-22, 25-21 win against hosts Indonesia.
Opposite Hiroki Bito tallied 21 points from 18 kills, 2 blocks and one ace for Japan, while outside hitter Krisna led the host side with 11 points, all in attack.
In Pool F, defending and seven-time champions Iran, which also captured the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship in Bahrain to their name, overcame a sturdy challenge from Korea to beat the former six-time winners in hard-fought five-set thriller 25-22, 25-20, 24-26, 23-25, 15-8 in exhausting 135 minutes.
Outside hitter Seyed Matin Hosseini Tolouti and middle blocker Taha Behboudnia steered Iran to the victory, leading the team’s offense with 22 and 20 points respectively.
Matin had 20 attacks from 36 attempts plus two blocks, while Taha led the team’s blocking with 7 points aside from 13 kills. Outside hitter Yoon Hajun scored 13 points including 12 kills on the Korea’s loss.
Kazakhstan pulled off upset 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-20) win against former four-time winners China in another Pool F match on Sunday.
Opposite Diyorbek Ikramov emerged as the Kazakhstan’s top scorer with 15 points from 12 kills, 2 blocks and one ace, while opposite Ke Xingyu was the China’s lone player who reached double digits, scoring 10 points from 8 kills, one block and one ace.
At the end of the two-day classification round for 1-8, formidable Japan topped Pool E with 8 points from three straight wins, followed by Indonesia with 6 points from two wins against one loss. India finished third with 4 points from one win against two losses, with winless Saudi Arabia on the bottom fourth with no point awarded.
Pool F was dominated by unbeaten Iran with 8 points from three wins in a row. Korea came in second position with 7 points from two wins against one loss, while Kazakhstan finished third with 3 points from one win against two losses. China had no point from three losses on the trot to come in fourth place in Pool F.
The Monday’s cross semifinals see Pool E winners Japan challenge Pool F second place Korea, with Pool F winners Iran taking on Pool E runners-up Indonesia.
Teams finishing third and fourth places in Pool E and Pool F were relegated to classification round 5-8. On Monday, Pool E third place India are set to take on Pool F fourth position China, while Pool E fourth place Saudi Arabia challenging Pool F third position Kazakhstan. The two winners will fight it out in the 5th-6th place playoff, with the two losing teams battling for the 7th position.
Meanwhile, the bottom eight teams contesting the classification round 9-16 saw Australia demolish Kuwait in straight sets 25-15, 25-13, 25-22 in Pool G.
Opposite Finley Bennett led Australia with 16 points from 10 kills and team-leading 6 aces, while opposite Ali Dashti claimed 10 points from 9 kills and one block for Kuwait.
In another Pool G clash, Hong Kong China struggled hard to beat Bangladesh in epic tie-breaker 25-15, 20-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-10 in 125 minutes.
Ho Wong Lam was the most productive player in this match, producing a match-high 31 points from 24 kills, 5 blocks and 2 aces for Hong Kong China, while outside hitter Ratul scored 23 points including 22 kills from 44 attempts on the Bangladesh’s loss.
In Pool H, the match between Thailand and Qatar turned out to be one-way traffic as the former crushed the latter in easy straight sets 25-15, 25-11, 25-13 in 58 minutes.
Kittipong Sangsak, who landed the Best Outside Spiker award at the previous edition in Riffa, Bahrain, chipped in 11 points including 10 kills from 15 attempts. No Qatari player reached double digits in scoring, with outside hitter Mahdi Salah leading the charge with 6 points from 5 kills and one ace.
The other Pool H encounter saw Chinese Taipei and Vietnam lock horns in a very tight contest, but the former proved steadier to narrowly beat the latter 26-24, 27-25, 25-23.
Outside hitter Jheng Wei-Jhih led the Chinese Taipei’s scoring efforts with 21 points from 18 kills and 3 blocks, while opposite Trinh Ngoc Dat scored 16 points including 12 attacks on the Vietnam’s loss.
Australia topped Pool G with 6 points from two wins against one loss, followed by Hong Kong China with 5 points from the similar 2-1 win/loss record. Bangladesh finished third place with 4 points from one win against two losses, with Kuwait in fourth position with 3 points from one win against two losses.
Chinese Taipei captured the top spot in Pool H with 7 points from two wins against one loss, while Thailand came in second place with 6 points from two wins against one loss. Vietnam finished third position with 5 points from two wins against one loss and winless Qatar were placed fourth with no point earned.
In the Monday’s classification round 13-16, Pool G third place Bangladesh will take on Pool H fourth position Qatar, with Pool H third place Vietnam going up against Pool G fourth place Kuwait.
The classification round 9-12 will see Pool G winners Australia challenge Pool H second place Thailand and Pool H winners Chinese Taipei face off against Pool G second place Hong Kong, China.
All semifinal matches will take place at Jawa Pos Arena, while classification encounters for 9-16 places will be held at Gelora Pancasila. The first match of both competition venues start simultaneously at 11.00am local time.
POOL RANKING AND RESULTS
POOL E
POOL F
POOL G
POOL H
MATCH SCHEDULE
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