Manama, Bahrain, May 16, 2023 – Hosts Al-Ahli beat Canberra Heat in thrilling straight sets 25-21, 25-19, 25-20 in their last preliminary Pool A encounter of the 2023 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at Issa Bin Rashed Hall 1 on Tuesday.
Gabriel Candido scored a match-high 21 points for Al-Ahli including 16 attacks from 27 attempts, while Kevin Phang led Canberra Heat with 9 points all from exceptional spikes.
The host side powered past Canberra Heat 25-21 in the first set, thanks to powerful attacks from Naser Anan and Abbas Alkhabbaz.
Canberra Heat tried to shrug off their dismal start and came up with more aggression but Al-Ahli went on a blistering run to take control. As the Aussie became more prone with successive unforced mistakes, the host side were all smiles to win the second set 25-19.
The third set was one-sided affair as Al-Ahli got the helm of the set and pressured the Canberra Heat’s defence. The rhythm was with the hosts, seeing them take advantage of the rivals’ unforced mistakes to stretch the lead to 20-15 and cruised on to win the set 25-20 and match.
Despite the win, the hosts could not move up to the quarterfinals and they have to face Yemen’s Khaypil Sports Club in the classification round for 9th-16th places, while Canberra Heat will go up against Thailand’s Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force.
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