Tehran, Iran, August 21, 2022 – The Japanese efforts at the 14th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship reached their great heights on Sunday when the defending two-time champions produced fantastic comeback 3-1 (37-39, 25-22, 25-21, 25-14) win against Korea to storm into the final showdown of this topflight championship.
The dramatic win before their adoring fans inside the Federation Hall on Sunday made Japan eligible for the Monday’s final, their 6th in history. They are due to battle it out with the winners in the other semifinal clash between hosts Iran and India.
In the Sunday’s 2018 final rematch, Japan and Korea started a tight match, dreaming of a final showdown. The seesaw battle took 42 minutes in the first set.
Korea upped their tempo and scored back-to-back points to leave the Japanese behind with a four-point advantage at 16-12. From then on, both sides poured everything they had to win the set, but the resilience was showcased through the Korean spectacular blocking and explosive attacks. Japan lost the nail-biting affair 37-39.
Going down one set, Japan regained their composure and fought back mightily. As the Koreans were riddled with several unforced attacking mistakes, the Japanese grabbed the chance to attack devastatingly and block solidly to win the next well-fought two sets 25-22, 25-21.
The fourth set was more comfortable for the Japanese with points awarded through their attacks, blocks and serves. Shunta Ono remained the key force to be reckoned with for Japan as he overcame the smaller blockers with his exceptional attacks. Japan still played up to their standard, holding their nerves and went on their aggressive attacks to close the fourth set by a wide margin 25-14 for the 3-1 match and a final berth.
Shunta Ono scored a match-high 27 points including 25 attacks for Japan, while Lee Woojin led Korea with 21 points including 20 attacks.
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