Tehran, Iran, August 15, 2022 – Japan overpowered the Indians in a hard-fought five-setter 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 21-25, 15-13 for their first win in Pool B at the 14th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship at the Federation Hall on Monday.
Japan, the gold medalists in the previous edition in Tabriz in 2018, put their acts together and attacked well to win the first set 25-20 against India, which aimed to better their performance this time.
Japan, fielding a strong line-up led by powerful Yuzuki Akimoto, faced trouble at some moments when India catch them 21-21 but soon after Japan showed excellent teamwork and solid defence and managed to close out the second set 25-23.
India made a strong comeback to dominate the third set. The Indian players came as a wonder with their exceptional tactics and form to win the set 25-23.
In the fourth set, India gained the upper hand to take 10-8 lead, but Japan did not want to surrender easily as they levelled at 21-21. Still, India came through to win 25-21, forcing the decider.
In the do-or-die tiebreaker, India took command to surge into an initial 4-1 lead, but to improve their fortunes, Japanese head coach Hiroshi Honda sent in Aguri Hara and the youngster was instrumental in lifting the team a 7-7 tie. Nonetheless, India hit back to catch the tough opponents 13-13. Japan mad the difference to prove their class and clinch the closely-contested decider15-13.
Bir Singh Yadav, head coach of India, said, “We lost to the system of Japan. Both teams are inexperienced but no one can ever think Japanese players are as inexperienced as my players are because they start volleyball at 12 or less in their schools or academies. We could have won the match and my players showed a very good performance.”
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