Riffa, Bahrain, August 29, 2022 – Invincible Iran affixed their stamp of supremacy over the 21st Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship at Isa Sports City Hall after 3-1 blitz over India in the Monday’s final showdown to successfully retain their title with remarkable unbeaten record.
The dramatic four-set 25-12, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15 win stretched the Iran’s invincibility in this topflight age group tournament to unchallenged seven times in history including two in succession. However, with two berths for the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship on offer, both Iran and India have secured their spots in the next year’s world meet.
Iran captured their first four titles on home soil in Tehran including their unprecedented title at the 9th Asian Men’s U20 Championship in 1998. They repeated the similar feats in 2002, 2006 and 2008. The Iranians sealed their next three titles in Bahrain comprising 2014 in Manama, 2018 in Riffa and 2022 in Riffa again after powering past China, Korea and India in their respective finals.
Despite the loss, India also had something to be proud of as they advanced to the final showdown for the first time in 20 years. The Indians first reached the final in 1994 in Doha, Qatar, but returned with the silver medal, with Korea reigning supreme. The Indians made their mark to advance to the final again in 2002, but succumbed to 1-3 defeat to hosts Iran for the silver medal and since then India had never made it to the final.
Therefore, winning their third silver medal here was something incredible for India when considering the fact that a strong field of 17 teams participated in this championship to strive for their success.
Meanwhile, in the bronze-medal match, Thailand had a disappointing campaign this time. Korea, silver medallists at the previous edition in 2018, smashed the rivals’ sweet dreams of maintaining the third place achieved here in Riffa four years ago to pull off a convincing three-set victory
After a hard-fought first set win 31-29, the Koreans utterly outclassed the rivals for the comfortable second and third sets 25-16, 25-14 to finish third with Thailand in fourth position.
In the classification 7th-8th playoff encounter, Bahrain lost the opening set to Pakistan, but turned things around to stun the well-organised opponents in epic tie-breaker 22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12. The host side took the 7th place, while Pakistan finished 8th.
Saudi Arabia claimed the 9th place after dominant 3-1 (25-19, 11-25, 25-18, 25-18) win against Iraq, which returned with the 10th position. The Iraq’s performance was a far cry from a well-earned 4th place they had achieved at the previous edition here four years ago.
The remaining playoffs were contested on Sunday, with Bangladesh finishing 5th place following 3-2 (32-30, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 15-13) win in the hard-fought five-set thriller against former four-time winners China.
Qatar ended their campaign in 11th position in the 21st Asian Men’s U20 Championship after their sensational 25-16, 25-21, 25-19 triumph over the United Arab Emirates.
In the 13th-14th playoff encounter, former three-time champions Japan played a tough match against Chinese Taipei to beat them in thrilling straight sets 25-14, 25-22, 25-22 to take home the 13th position. Chinese Taipei returned with the 14th place
Australia claimed the 15th place in this topflight championship following their 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-19) demolition of Hong Kong, China in the Sunday’s 15th-16th playoff match, while Kuwait received a bye in the clash for 17th-18th places to finish on the bottom 17th place.
The awards presentation and closing ceremony took place shortly after completion of the final showdown, with Control Committee including its President and Technical Delegate Mr Emile Jabbour, three Technical Sub Committee – Mr Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai, himself AVC Secretary General, Mr Shihab Al Din Ahmed Said Al Riyami and Mr Bader Abdullrahman Alxous, Referee Delegate Mr S. bent Coonghe and three Referee Sub Committee – Dr Khalid Al-Zughaibi, Mr Adel Al-Harbi and Mr Jirachai Kasemsook in attendance.
MONDAY’S FINAL RESULTS
9th-10th playoff: Saudi Arabia bet Iraq 3-1: 25-19, 11-25, 25-18, 25-18)
7th-8th playoff: Bahrain beat Pakistan 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12)
Bronze medal match: Korea beat Thailand 3-0 (31-29, 25-16, 25-14)
Championship match: Iran beat India 3-1 (25-12, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15)
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
BEST OUTSIDE HITTERS
BEST MIDDLE BLOCKERS
BEST OPPOSITE HITTER
BEST SETTER
BEST LIBERO
MVP
TEAM RANKING
1. IRAN
2. INDIA
3. KOREA
4. THAILAND
5. BANGLADESH
6. CHINA
7. BAHRAIN
8. PAKISTAN
9. SAUDI ARABIA
10. IRAQ
11. QATAR
12. UAE
13. JAPAN
14. CHINESE TAIPEI
15. AUSTRALIA
16. HONG KONG, CHINA
17. KUWAIT
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