DAY 3 WRAPUP
Jiangmen, China, January 9, 2020 – Unbeaten Iran set up a 2018 Asian Games final rematch with formidable Korea, as hosts China will test their mettle against hefty Qatar in the do-or-die semi-finals of the AVC Men’s Tokyo Qualification 2020 at the Jiangmen Sports Centre Gymnasium here on Saturday.
Iran and China had earlier secured their semi-final berths in Pool A following their two wins in succession and the match between them on Thursday was held as a decisive encounter as the winning team would capture the top spot in Pool A, with the losers the second place.
Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan failed to make the cut for the semi-finals, but played their Thursday’s match to prove which team were stronger in this top-flight competition.
In Pool B, Qatar had earlier advanced to the semi-finals following their two consecutive wins. Winless India crashed out of the tournament as they suffered two losses in a row, leaving Australia and Korea to vie for the remaining ticket in the semi-finals.
Australia beat India 3-1 on Thursday morning to keep their semi-final hopes alive. However, their hearts sank, with Olympic dreams shattered when the Volleyroos learned later in the afternoon that Korea defeated Qatar to gain higher points and better position in the Pool and completely dashed their hopes to continue their fight for the Olympic dreams in Jiangmen.
Qatar and Korea booked their semi-final berths, while India and Australia returned home sad and with heads low in disappointment.
On Thursday, the final day of the pool round-robin preliminaries, Asian champions and world No. 8 Iran, the only Asian team to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil, pulled off a hard-fought 25-22 25-20 25-21 win against hosts China to remain unbeaten and the only team in this top-flight tournament not yet to lose a single set to their respective rivals.
Against China in their last preliminary match, Iran fielded a formidable lineup with the likes of Purya Fayazi, Mir Saeid Marouflakrani, Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi, Shahram Mahmoudi and Milad Ebadipour.
The host side also sent in a team loaded with experience and form including Dai Qingyao, Jiang Chuan, Ji Daoshual, Liu Libin and Zhang Zhejia, but it seemed that China suffered a major setback as though boosted by the cheering home crowd, they failed to make the grade in their tough match against the Asia’s powerhouses.
Without their main setter Zhan Guojun, who sustained a serious left ankle in their opening clash against Kazakhstan on Tuesday, China seemingly did not live up to their initial expectation. For the host side, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Earlier, Chinese Taipei saved the best for last as the world No.34 overpowered Kazakhstan in thrilling four-setter 19-25 25-11 25-18 25-21 to complete their Tokyo Qualification campaign in Jiangmen with the third place in Pool A.
Chinese Taipei had already lost their first two matches comprising a straight-set loss to Iran in their opening match on Tuesday and a 2-3 letdown in the hard-fought clash against China the following day. Going down two losses in a row had entirely dashed their high hopes of advancing to the semi-finals of this top-tier tournament.
Korea struggled to beat Qatar 3-2 (25-18 28-26 22-25 20-25 15-13) in a highly-anticipated clash of their last preliminary match on Thursday.
In their crucial match against Qatar, Korea, fourth place at the last year’s Asian Senior Men’s Championship in Iran, fielded a strong lineup which brushed off India in straight sets the previous match. They included hard-hitting Jeon Kwang-In, Shin Yungsuk and Jung Jiseok, while Qatar were also strong with the presence of the 206cm-tall Ibrahim Ibrahim and powerful Belal Nabel Anunabot.
Meanwhile, Australia overpowered India in thrilling four-setter 25-27 25-21 25-21 25-22 in their last preliminary Pool B encounter.
At the completion of the pool round-robin preliminaries on Thursday, Iran topped Pool A with 9 points from three straight wins, with hosts China in second place with 5 points from two wins against one loss. Chinese Taipei had 4 points from one win against two losses to finish third place and Kazakhstan came in fourth position.
Three teams were tied at top of Pool B following their similar performances of two wins against one loss. However, Qatar dominated Pool B after claiming 7 points, with Korea and Australia in second and third places with 6 and 5 points respectively.
With top two teams in each pool advancing, Iran and China in Pool A and Qatar and Korea in Pool B secured their berths in the semi-finals. The third and fourth places in each pool – Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan in Pool A and Australia and India in Pool B – crashed out of the competition and returned home.
Friday is the rest day. The crosswise semi-finals on Saturday see Iran take on Korea in a rematch of the 2018 Asian Games final in Indonesia in the first match at 4pm local time, followed by the encounter between hosts China and Qatar at 8pm.
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