Manama, Bahrain, August 1, 2024 – Unbeaten Japan punched their tickets to the semi-finals of the 15th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship on Thursday night with a comeback 3-1 (28-30, 25-21, 25-17, 25-18) victory against Korea in Pool F.
The result earned the Japanese six points in the Elite Eight – three of which they carried over from the preliminaries where they defeated Chinese Taipei in straight sets.
They are now through to the last four from their group along with Pakistan, whom they will face on Friday for Pool F supremacy. Korea and Chinese Taipei are out of further title contention and will compete in the fifth-to-eighth classification on Saturday and Sunday, after their game Friday.
The Japanese narrowly gave up the first set against their Korean rivals but turned things around in the second. They never looked back from there, banking on the strong play of Karen Masajedi, Rei Iwata, and Yuki Kashiwazaki, and riding their momentum all the way to the finish.
Masajedi had a sensational performance with 31 points, while Iwata added 18 and Kashiwazaki had 12. For the Koreans, Song Eunchan scored 19, while Lee Seungil chipped in 10 points in the loss.
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