Tehran, Iran, August 22, 2022 – Invincible Japan, powered by devastating Hiroki Bito, underlined their dominance over the 14th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship after stunning hosts Iran 3-0 in the highly-anticipated showdown at the Federation Hall on Monday.
The victory in the high-octane battle against former champions Iran handed the Japanese side consecutive three Asian titles in this top-tier Championship.
The top four teams of the championship – Japan, Iran, India and Korea have secured their berths in the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship.
Earlier, India delivered a shock to Korea after pulling off the tiebreak 25-20, 25-21, 26-28, 19-25, 15-12 win in the third-place playoff match to grab the bronze medal for the first time in 14 years. The Indians’ last bronze medal achieved in this topflight age group tournament dated back to the 2008 edition in Sri Lanka when India cruised past China in the third-place playoff.
Korea finished fourth, a place far from impressive, as they returned with silver medal in the previous two episodes in 2017 and 2018.
Meanwhile, China put it past Chinese Taipei to claim 5th place in this competitive competition. China survived a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei but stayed in superb form to trounce the rivals in thrilling five-setter 25-16, 15-25, 18-25, 25-20, 17-15. Chinese Taipei finished 6th place in th one-week championship.
Chinese Taipei’s head coach, Chen Chun-Chang expressed his satisfaction with the final 6th position and said: “maybe, we lost points but did not lose the game. My players performed very well and they proved their capabilities and they surely have a bright future”.
In the 7th-8th playoff clash, Thailand shrugged off their dismal start and produced a magnificent come-from-behind against Kuwait for the eventual 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-8, 25-17) win to finish 7th place.
Control Committee President Dr Mohammad Reza Davarzani, and Technical Delegate Mr Yermek Syrlybayev from Kazakhstan jointly presided over the awards presentation, with Control Committee Members including Technical Sub-Committee Mr Park Ki Won from Korea, Medical Delegate Dr Gholam Nowrouzi from Iran, and Referee Delegate Mr Mohammad Shahmiri from Iran in attendance. Ms Sarah Hessaby, the international affairs director as the Press Delegate and Mr Kantawee Phromsorn, Media Producer, were also invited.
Japan received the Champions’ Trophy and gold medal, while Iran and India finished second and third places to claim silver and bronze medals respectively.
FINAL RESULTS
FINAL STANDING
1. JAPAN
2.IRAN
3.INDIA
4.KOREA
5.CHINA
6.CHINESE TAIPEI
7.THAILAND
8.KUWAIT
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
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