Hosts Kyrgyzstan, fresh from 3-0 demolition of Uzbekistan in their opening match, flexed their muscles to see off Nepal in dramatic four-setter for consecutive two wins in the 2023 Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) Men’s Volleyball Nation’s League at the Sports and Recreation Complex Gazprom in Cholpon-Ata on Monday.
Kanybek Uulu Onolbek scored a team-high 24 points from 20 attacks, 3 blocks and one ace serve for Kyrgyzstan, which captured the 3rd AVC Men’s Challenge Cup on home soil following their terrific comeback 3-2 win against Saudi Arabia in the final clash. Shrestha Man Bahadur led all scorers on board with 27 points from 23 attacks and team-leading 4 blocks on the Nepal’s losing effort.
Both Kyrgyzstan and Nepal made a strong start in the see-saw first set, but the host outfits fared better at home stretch to beat the determined visitors in a closely-contested set 26-24. Going down one set, the Nepalese side fought back heavily to take the second set 25-21 to even it 1-1.
Kyrgyzstan, strengthened by hard-hitting Kanybek, who landed the MVP award at the 3rd AVC Men’s Challenge Cup, bounced back from their loss in the second set to Nepal with a sensational 25-18 victory in the third and went on their aggressive attacks and consistent play to clinch the fourth set 25-16 and 3-1 match. As the host side enjoyed two wins in succession in the tournament, Nepal, which went down 1-3 to Mongolia in the Sunday’s curtain-raiser, suffered another setback on Monday.
Earlier, Mongolia overcame a strong challenge from Turkmenistan to beat the tough rivals in hotly-contested four sets 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22 for two wins in a row in the June 18-25 event. Turkmenistan, which succumbed to 1-3 loss to Kyrgyzstan 2 the previous day, also suffered two consecutive losses in the eight-day tournament.
In this close match, Battur Batsuuri chipped in with 17 points for Mongolia, while Sukhee Nyamsukh and Gantulga Tsend-Ayush kept good company to assist the team with 15 and 14 points respectively. Gulyyev Mithun led Turkmenistan with 16 points.
Asian powerhouses Iran made their mark in their very first match in the tournament, powering past Uzbekistan in comfortable straight sets 25-18, 25-17, 25-20.
Hosseinitolouti Seyedmatin contributed 16 points including 14 attacks for Iran, with Kuchkorov Azizbek leading Uzbekistan with 14 points from 10 attacks, 3 blocks and one ace serve.
Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia claimed two wins apiece, but the host side had better sets ratio to stay atop the standing with 6 points. Mongolia had the similar performance to trail in second place with 6 points. Iran came in third place overall with 3 points from their first win. Kyrgyzstan 2 finished fourth, with Turkmenistan, Nepal and Uzbekistan in 5th, 6th and 7th places respectively.
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