Iran and Uzbekistan secured their berths in next year’s FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship
Iran struggled hard to stun Chinese Taipei with epic comeback to set up highly-anticipated final showdown with hosts Uzbekistan in the 1st Asian Men’s U16 Volleyball Championship at Hall 1 inside Yunusobod Sports Complex in Tashkent on Friday.
Following their dramatic wins in the Friday’s competitive semifinals, unbeaten Iran and Uzbekistan have secured their berths in the next year’s FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship. The historic continental championship in Tashkent serves as the Asia’s qualification tournament for the world meet, with only top three teams making the cut for the above-mentioned World Championship.
As the first two World Championship berths had been secured, the remaining ticket will go to either Chinese Taipei or Pakistan, both of whom will fight it out for bronze medal in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
Contesting the semifinals on Friday, Iran shrugged off the rust just in time as the unbeaten side succumbed to losses in the first two sets against the well-established Chinese Taipei 21-25, 14-25, but bounced back mightily with Amin Asiaei and Mostafa Sedaghat on fire in attack to capture the remaining three sets 25-22, 25-17, 15-13 and a final berth.
Iran will next take on hosts Uzbekistan, the team they had already beaten 3-1 in the Top 8 Pool E encounter, in the Saturday’s final showdown.
Uzbekistan reached the final after 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23) demolition of Pakistan in the other semifinal clash. It was an upset loss of the Pakistanis as they have yet lost a set to their respective rivals en route to their Friday’s semifinals.
In the Classification Round for ranking 5-8, Japan produced a comeback 3-2 (17-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9) victory against Thailand to next face off against old foes Kazakhstan, which overcame Australia in hard-fought four sets 25-20, 26-24, 28-30, 25-17, in the Saturday’s 5th-6th playoff clash. Thailand will also renew their rivalry with Australia for the 7th position in this championship.
Meanwhile, the last Pool G match in the single round-robin Classification Round for ranking 9-12 at JAR Hall saw Mongolia prove a class above Hong Kong, China to beat the lower-ranked side in comfortable straight sets 25-15, 25-15, 25-19.
At the conclusion of Pool G encounters on Friday, China had 9 points from three straight wins to eventually secure their 9th place in this championship. Mongolia ended their campaign to return home with the 10th position after collecting 6 points from two wins against one loss. Hong Kong, China came in 11th place with 3 points from one win against two losses, with winless Saudi Arabia on the bottom 12th place.
On Saturday, the final day of the inaugural championship, Iran and hosts Uzbekistan will fight it out for the eventual title, while Chinese Taipei will challenge Pakistan in the third place playoff to vie for the final berth for the next year’s FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship.
Japan will play Kazakhstan in the 5th-6th place playoff, with Thailand facing Australia to fight for the 7th position.
QUICK LINKS
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation