Home teams got their campaigns in the 2024 Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) Men’s Volleyball Nation’s League off to winning starts at the Sports and Recreation Complex Gazprom in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, with embattled Kyrgyzstan 2 beating Turkmenistan in hard-fought four-set thriller on Sunday.
The eight-day tournament, which is being held between June 18 and 25, had initially attracted a total of 8 teams to vie for top honor. However, following the withdrawal of Pakistan and Kazakhstan ahead of the competition, the host country decided to field two teams in this tournament with high hopes that their players will make the most of the tournament in gaining experience and exposure while sharpening their skill against strong overseas teams.
Last year, Kyrgyzstan hosted the 3rd AVC Men’s Challenge Cup and the host side were in exceptional form to be crowned champions following their terrific comeback 3-2 win against Saudi Arabia in the final showdown.
Aside from two teams from hosts Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Iran and Uzbekistan are testing their mettle to strive for their success. The best-ranked team after completion of the single round-robin contest will be crowned the eventual champions.
Iran had a rest day on Sunday, the first day of the tournament, and are set to play their first match against Uzbekistan on Monday.
On Sunday, the curtain-raiser saw Mongolia contest a tough match against Nepal to put it past the spirited visitors in thrilling four-setter 25-19, 25-20, 25-27, 25-20.
Sukhee Nyamsukh chipped in with 19 points including 18 attacks for Mongolia. Malla Hemant Bahadur led Nepal with 12 point and Shrestha Man Bahadur added 11 points.
The second encounter between Kyrgyzstan 2 and Turkmenistan was closely-contested, which saw the host side pull off dramatic 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22) triumph over the strong opponents.
Kasym Akmataliev emerged as the top scorer for Kyrgyzstan 2 as he scored a match-high 19 points from 16 attacks and 3 solid blocks for the team. Nuryyev Didar led Turkmenistan with 15 points.
In the third match, Kyrgyzstan powered past Uzbekistan in straight sets 25-22, 25-16, 25-21, much to the home fans’ satisfaction.
Junusov Omurbek contributed 12 points including 11 attacks for Kyrgyzstan, while Sabirov Islomjan and Kuchkorov Azizbek scored 10 points apiece for Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan went atop the 7-team standing with 3 points from a straight-set win against Uzbekistan, followed by Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan 2 respectively. The Mongolians and Kyrgyzstan 2 also bagged the first-day wins, but conceded one set apiece to their respective rivals. Turkmenistan, Nepal and Uzbekistan finished fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively.
On Monday, Mongolia take on Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan go up against Iran and hosts Kyrgyzstan meet Nepal.
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