Hangzhou, China, July 3, 2023 – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Iran clinched the remaining three tickets for Top 8 after defeating their respective rivals on the last day of the pool round-robin preliminaries of the 1st Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship at Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province and the host city for the coming Asian Games, on Monday.
Following a stunning 2-3 loss to Thailand on Sunday, Kazakhstan staged another five-set thriller and a terrific comeback 3-2 (29-31, 23-25, 25-11, 25-14, 17-15) victory against Hong Kong, China in their last preliminary encounter at Linping Sports Centre Gymnasium.
With captain Sum Yuen Tang firing some lightning-fast attacks, Hong Kong, China made a strong start to lead 3-0 in the first set. Kazakhstan committed unforced errors often and were trailing behind all the way until 17-20. However, thanks to Karina Balmukhambetova’s effective serves, Kazakhstan captured the lead for the first time 22-21. From then on, the lead changed hands before Kazakhstan committed two consecutive attacking errors which cost them dear. Hong Kong, China claimed the closely-contested opening set 31-29.
Going down one set, Kazakhstan still could not hold their nerves, allowing their opponents many attack opportunities to trail 3-7. To improve on their tactics and form, Kazakhstan asked for a timeout and their intention paid off impressively after that. The Kazakhs fought back to level it at 18-18. After a few smashes, Hong Kong, China still had enough to hold the opponents off with their double blocks to reach the set point at 24-21. They allowed Kazakhstan only two set points saved before outside hitter Kai Yu Lin attacked devastatingly to help Hong Kong, China grab the thrilling set 25-23 for two sets in a row.
Kazakhstan came to life in the third set as they overcame their unforced errors and came up with efficient attacks. The set turned out to be a lopsided battle which Kazakhstan took only 20 minutes for the easy 25-11 win.
In the fourth set, middle blocker Balaiym Koilybayeva produced three well-placed serves in the beginning, helping Kazakhstan gain the upper hand for an impressive 9-2 lead. Hong Kong, China made their prompt reply with Hoi Ching Michelle Yiu’s great serves, narrowing the margin 7-10.
However, the Kazakhs increasingly gained their confidence to deal with such difficult situation. They took the height and strength advantage to widen the gap and from there, never looked back to win the set 25-14, forcing the tie-breaker.
Captain Sum Yuen Tang became a major force for Hong Kong, China in the decider. Both teams poured everything to win the set. However, with Yat Ching Maggie Lam attacking effectively from the right wing, Hong Kong, China took the commanding lead and almost came within a whisker of winning the deciding set. Still, the determined Kazakhstan bounced back mightily to catch the rivals at 15-15 and moved on to win the set 17-15 and match.
Karina Balmukhambetova chipped in with a team-high 21 points including 17 attacks for Kazakhstan, while Sum Yuen Tang scored a match-high 22 points on the Hong Kong, China’s loss.
In the other match, Uzbekistan earned the remaining berth in Pool A to Top 8 after a sensational 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-22) triumph over Mongolia at China Textile City Sports Centre Gymnasium on Monday morning.
Captain Absamatova Zebokhon chipped in with a match-high 14 points from 11 attacks and three blocks for the winning side. Shinejargal Khaliunaa and Altantogoo A. Amarbayasgalan contributed 12 points and 10 points respectively for Mongolia.
Mongolia started the first set with an ace before Uzbekistan swiftly took over the lead and widened the gap to 14-4. In spite of the inadequacy in height, Uzbekistan presented more flexibility in attack while their counterparts somehow failed to work out a feasible strategy to improve their receptions. It cost only 22 minutes for Uzbekistan to grab the first set 25-11.
The Uzbeks maintained the slight edge in the beginning of the second set until their comprehensive cooperation in offense facilitated them from 2-point (11-9) lead to a comfortable 25-18 win.
The third set witnessed more ups and downs on the side of Uzbekistan while Mongolia regrouped and performed more organized receptions. They got very close to a hopeful comeback from 10-16 to 17-19 by impressive attacks and solid blocking. However the Uzbeks managed to hold the slight advantage to the very end before Shagraeva Zamira finished it off 25-22.
Iran became the last team to secure their spot in Top 8 following a straight-set 25-15, 25-20, 25-16 win against Australia at China Textile City Sports Centre Gymnasium here on Monday afternoon.
Opposite Afzouni Laya topscored with 14 points for Iran, followed by Ghadamitabaghdehi Masi and Heidarigoujani Tina with 12 and 11 respectively.
Iran got off to a flying start to lead with an 8-point clear at 9-1. It took quite a while for the Australians to adjust their state. Despite saving four set points from 11-24 to 15-24, Australia had to hand out the first set 15-25 following a disappointing service error.
Australia’s Captain and Libero Sienna Arthur fought hard to organize her team’s offense in the second set, which facilitated the team to keep up with the Iranians. However, they committed consecutive errors at the late phase, ruining themselves to a smaller deficit (20-25) loss.
The same situation repeated at the beginning of the third set. Australia still could not make it to consolidate their defense in spite of their height advantage. Iran dictated the rhythm for a sweeping victory by closing the set 25-16.
“Today we’ve prepared for Iran’s attack. Unfortunately, our control for the game was a bit lacking so we were not able to score the point we could have done,” Australia head coach Rachael Georgieff said at the Mixed Zone .
“It was a good game. Our team showed their good performance. We will forget this game and prepare for tomorrow.” Iran’s head coach Fatemeh Shabankhamseh said after the match.
Meanwhile, due to the withdrawal of team India, Chinese Taipei and Macao, China, which have automatically reserved two spots in Top 8 before this match, faced off against each other for their first match in this championship which resulted in the former capturing a one-sided 3-0 (25-9, 25-7, 25-4) win at Linping Sports Centre Gymnasium Monday afternoon.
Facing well-trained Chinese Taipei, Macao, China could not organize any effective attacks but sneak few points from the opponent’s errors. It took only 50 minutes for Chinese Taipei to win the demonstration-like match.
Outside hitter Chiu Fan-Chi bagged 15 points from 7 attacks and incredible 8 aces for Chinese Taipei. Chou Yi-Han and Chen Pin-Yu kept good company to contribute 14 and 11 points respectively.
The Championship will switch into the classification phase, which will play in two pools. China, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will be regrouped in Pool E, while Japan, Chinese Taipei, Iran and Macao, China in Pool F.
In addition, Australia, Mongolia and Hong Kong China, which failed to make the cut for Top 8, will have a round robin to determine their final placement for 9-11 of the Championship.
The semifinals will kick off on July 7 and the final showdown on July 8. Top three teams of the championship will qualify for the next year’s FIVB Volleyball Girl’s U17 World Championship.
MATCH RESULTS
Saturday, July 1
10:30 Japan v Australia 3-0 (25-6, 25-12, 25-18)
10:30 Thailand v Hong Kong, China 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-16)
19:30 China v Mongolia 3-0 (25-11, 25-9, 25-16)
Sunday, July 2
10:30 Kazakhstan v Thailand 2-3 (25-23, 11-25, 14-25, 25-23, 8-15)
10:30 Iran v Japan 0-3 (16-25, 19-25, 20-25)
15:00 Uzbekistan v China 0-3 (7-25, 10-25, 8-25)
Monday, July 3
10:30 Mongolia v Uzbekistan 0-3 (11-25, 18-25, 22-25)
10:30 Hong Kong, China v Kazakhstan 2-3 (31-29, 25-23, 11-25, 14-25, 15-17)
15:00 Australia v Iran 0-3 (15-25, 20-25, 16-25)
15:00 Chinese Taipei v Macao, China 3-0 (25-9, 25-7, 25-4)
Tuesday, July 4
10:30 Mongolia v Hong Kong, China
15:00 Thailand v Uzbekistan
19:00 China v Kazakhstan
15:00 Japan v Macao, China
19:00 Chinese Taipei v Iran
Wednesday, July 5
Rest Day
Thursday, July 6
10:30 Mongolia v Australia
15:00 Uzbekistan v Kazakhstan
19:00 China v Thailand
15:00 Iran v Macao, China
19:00 Japan v Chinese Taipei
POOL RANKING
MATCH SCHEDULE
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