DAY 4 WRAP UP
Tehran, Iran, August 18, 2022 – Powerhouses Iran and Japan topped Pool A and Pool B at the completion of the hectic four days in the pool round-robin preliminaries of the 14th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship at the Federation Hall on Thursday.
Hosts Iran, the only team yet losing a single set to their respective rivals, maintained their unbeaten run on Thursday after powering past Chinese Taipei in comfortable straight sets 25-15, 25-18, 25-16 in their last preliminary Pool A clash.
In the other match earlier, China had a little problem in demolishing Kuwait in three-setter 25-15, 25-19, 25-12. Gao Yuning chipped in with 14 points from11 attacks and 3 blocks for China, while Ren Guangzhen added 12 points from attack hits. No one scored double digits for Kuwait, with team captain Ahmad Almutairi bagging 7 points.
In Pool B, the hotly-contesting clash between India and Korea became the day’s highlight as both sides fought it all-out to get a better place in their pool. As the former were on red-hot form with spectacular attacks, the latter were just defending brilliantly at the net, blocking almost everything the rivals could throw at them.
Consistency, courage and determination all matter the success of the team and India had all those elements. They fared better to capture the convincing 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21) triumph over the Koreans.
Aryan Baliyan was the India’s top scorer with 13 points, while Kush Singh contributed 10 points through attack hits and well-placed serves. Song Wonjun led the Koreans with a match-high 15 points.
Completing their campaigns in the pool round-robin preliminaries, all eight teams were classified and ranked accordingly due to each team’s performances in the concluded pool plays.
Iran, former seven-time champions and bronze medallists at the last year’s Boys’ U19 World Championship on home soil, topped Pool A with full 9 points from three wins on the trot. China finished second in the pool with 6 points from two wins against one loss, with Chinese Taipei in third position with 3 points from one win against two losses. Winless Kuwait came in fourth place in Pool A.
Japan, defending and consecutive two-time champions, stayed atop Pool B with 6 points from three wins in succession. India finished second with 7 points from two wins against one loss, followed by Korea and Thailand with third and fourth places respectively. The Koreans claimed 4 points from one win against two losses, with Thailand losing them all to bag only one point.
Friday is the rest day. The action-packed competitions resume the following day in the cross quarterfinals, with team finishing on top of Pool A taking on the fourth-ranked side of Pool B and the third place in Pool A testing their mettle with the second place in Pool B.
As a result, the Saturday’s quarterfinals see Iran (1A) take on Thailand (4B), Japan (1B) set up do-or-die clash with Kuwait (4A), Korea (3B) face off with China (2A) and India (2B) pit their expertise against Chinese Taipei (3A).
“I don’t want to say that we played better because Chinese Taipei are a good team but I can say that they were different from us in terms of height. We could control the game with good service and we had good receptions as well. We will try to improve day by day and we are grateful to the Iranian spectators for their support,” Iran head coach Reza Vakili Farjad said.
“Their style is similar to Chinese Taipei, and we have to change our strategies to overcome them. The next match against Thailand is very important”, he added.
The four winning teams on Saturday will not only advance to the semifinals of the topflight championship, but also secure their places in the next year’s FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship. The four losers will be relegated to the classification round for 5th-8th places.
MATCH RESULTS & TEAM RANKING
SATURDAY’S MATCH SCHEDULE
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