Riffa, Bahrain, August 22, 2022 – The 21st Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship got off to a vibrant start on Monday, with strong teams coming up with terrific displays to annihilate lower-ranked sides in hotly-anticipated contests at Isa Sports City Hall here.
Iran, Korea, China, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia registered their first wins in this top-tier age group championship, which serves as the qualification tournament for the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship. Only top two teams from the Asian meet will make the cut for the next year’s aforementioned World Championship.
The Iran’s well-fought 3-2 (27-25, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-8) victory against Japan in Pool B was the day’s highlight as the well-established Iranians got their title defence off to a winning start against Japan, one of the strongest teams to be reckoned with in the championship.
Iran, defending and six-time champions, are strong with the likes of two powerful hitters Amir Mohammad Golzadeh and Pouria Hooseinkhanzadeh Firouzjah, and had great experience testing their mettle against many senior teams in the recent 2022 AVC Cup for Men in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, where they performed superbly beyond their age and had a well-earned 5th place to their name.
Against Japan, Iran survived a strong challenge from the former three-time champions to win the nail-biting first set 27-25, but due to the rivals’ consistency and excellent combination plays, the Iranians succumbed to the next two defeats 23-25, 23-25.
The fourth set turned out to be another electrifying affair which the Iranians still lived up to their top billing to win the hard-fought battle 25-22. Levelling 2-2, Iran continued their remarkable run in the decider, tactically foiling the Japanese scoring opportunities to win it 15-8 and match. Iran had a rest day on Tuesday, while Japan will next be pitted against India.
In Pool C, former six-time champions Korea ran away with it through perfectly executed sets to brush off Qatar in straight sets 25-10, 25-20, 25-21. The formidable Koreans, silver medallists at the previous edition here in Riffa in 2018, are due to next take on Kuwait.
Former four-time champions China also made their mark on the opening day of the topflight championship as they disposed of Pakistan in exceptional four-setter 25-23, 20-25, 25-16, 25-17 in Pool F. The Chinese will next play a 2018 5th-6th playoff rematch against Chinese Taipei on Tuesday.
In Pool A, Saudi Arabia cruised to hard-fought four-set 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-19 win against Hong Kong, China, who will next face off with hosts Bahrain on Tuesday.
Bangladesh faced a tough test in their opening Pool E clash against Iraq, going down in the first set 19-25 to take the next three sets 26-24, 25-19, 25-22. Bangladesh had a rest day on Tuesday, while Iraq, fourth place in 2018, will next challenge Australia.
Thailand, bronze medallists at the previous edition in 2018, had a bye on Monday and are set to get their campaign in this topflight tournament off to reality on Tuesday when they will take on the United Arab Emirates in Pool D.
The pool round-robin preliminaries continue through Wednesday, August 4, with the next day August 5 the rest day of every team. Only top two teams from each pool, 12 teams in total, will make the cut for the next round, while teams finishing 3rd-4th places in each pool will compete in classification for 13th-17th places.
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