Gresik, East Java, Indonesia, June 19, 2023 – Iran endured the challenge of a tough Hong Kong, China team to take the decider, 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 19-25,15-8) in Monday evening’s Pool B match of the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Women at the Tri Dharma Petrokimia Gresik Gymnasium.
Opposite Ashofteh Mona led all scorers on the board with 27 points in the victory, with Bagherpour Soudabeh (15 points) and Kadkhoda Mahsa (14 points) supporting with double-digit markers. The Iran side imposed their height advantage, gaining much in their middle attacks and blocks.
Meanwhile, opposite hitter To Wing Man charted a total of 19 points in defeat.
Iran head coach Rashidi Kiklahijani Fatemeh commented ” This was a beautiful match in my opinion. It was our first match in the competition, and as you could see, we made many errors, especially that Hong Kong, China were playing fast.”
Hong Kong, China indeed showed that they could run quick plays and move well in transition. They used this to their advantage, seeing that their tall opponents would likely lag to react. Libero Cheung Hiu Nok did a commendable job of keeping the ball in play even after power-packed hits from the opponents.
Hong Kong, China captain Chim Wing Lam, who churned out a stellar output of 15 points, said “We prepared well for the match, we studied the videos and reviewed them over and over. But in the fifth set, we somehow lost our confidence when we started making errors.”
Hong Kong, China patiently worked to bounce back and force the fifth set. They were able to keep the pace and posted side-outs in the decider. Later on, they started committing costly errors in attack and in serve.
Meanwhile, Iran sparked a scoring run as Captain Mahsa Kadkhoda served off three straight winners to help complete the victory in five sets.
“We have a number of young players here who represent the new generation of Iran women’s volleyball. We want to prepare well for our coming matches as we keep our respect for all teams here in the championship,” Rashidi Kiklahijani Fatemeh added.
Iran will play against Chinese Taipei on Tuesday, June 20 at 14:00 local time. Hong Kong, China have completed their Preliminary Round matches and will now await their match-up in the Classification scheduled on Wednesday in Gresik City.
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