Team Iran’s photos courtesy of Iran Volleyball Federation Twitter
Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, June 16, 2024 – Strong teams powered past lower-ranked opponents to register their first wins in the 15th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship, as Kazakhstan survived a scare from Hong Kong, China in epic tie-break win on Sunday.
The flagship biennial championship, which got underway on Sunday at Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium here and Ratchaburi Gymnasium in Ratchaburi Province with a distance of approximately 42km away, serves as the Asian qualification for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship, attracted 13 teams to vie for top honor. Top four teams in the June 16-23 championship will qualify for the topflight world meet.
At Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium, Uzbekistan, third place at the CAVA Girls’ U18 Championship on their home soil in Tashkent early this month, pulled off dramatic 3-1 (25-12, 15-25, 25-7, 25-21) win against Macao, China in Pool A, while Pool D encounters saw Korea beat Australia 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-13, 25-18) and Chinese Taipei manage a 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-9) shutout of India, while at Ratchaburi Gymnasium, Kazakhstan overcame a sturdy challenge from Hong Kong, China to beat the determined opponents 3-2 (25-21, 25-21, 14-25, 19-25, 15-12 in Pool C, with Iran demolishing Philippines 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-20) in Pool B.
Formidable Korea, bronze medallists at the previous edition, proved too hot for Australia to handle for 25-18 win in the first set. However, the Aussies bravely bounced back in the second set, with outside hitters Matisse Conlon and Hilary Hannagan attacking effectively to help the team grab the set 25-21.
Korea upped their tempo and played with more aggression in the next two sets. With powerful Park Yeoreum, 182cm, showcasing her talent to come up with spectacular spikes and service aces and Jung A Rim and Kim Jiyoon solidifying the defence with good blocks, Korea captured the one-sided third set 25-13 and 25-18 in the fourth set for the dramatic 3-1 win.
Park Yeoreum played a pivotal role in the Korea’s triumph as she scored a match-high 25 points from 19 kills, one ace and five aces for the team, while Kim Jiyoon and Park Seoyoon kept good company to contribute 17 and 12 points respectively.
As Australia dominated the blocking game, getting 13 stuffs to the opponents’ 7 apart from benefiting from more opponent errors (21 to 20), the Koreans did a very good job of leading the Aussies in kills (55 to 34) and aces (14 to 6).
Uzbekistan, which had a disappointing outing in the previous edition here two years ago to return with a distant eight place, also got their campaign opener against Macao, China off to a good start on Sunday with a 3-1 win. Taking the comfortable first set 25-12, Uzbekistan had their sights set on repeating the feat in the second set. However, their attempts were denied as Macao, China put their acts together and hit back, with middle blocker Zheng Weng Cheng firing back-to-back attacks for the team’s strong comeback 25-15 win.
The third set turned out to be one-way traffic as Uzbekistan found their touch and led from start to finish, allowing the smaller-built opponents only 7 points to close out the easy set 25-7. Both sides traded attacks in the fourth set, but Uzbekistan stayed in control to win it 25-21 for the 3-1 match.
Outside hitter Rokhimova Maftuna and middle blocker and skipper Absamatova Zebokhon handed Uzbekistan 10 points apiece for the team’s victory, while middle blocker Zheng Weng Cheng led Macao, China with 13 points including team-leading 9 aces.
Earlier, Chinese Taipei, which finished a well-earned fifth place in the previous episode two years ago, proved a class above India to outplay the rivals in a completely lopsided battle.
Chinese Taipei played consistently with combination attacks from middle blocker Tu Chia-Hsin and opposite Tseng Yu-Rou, while Tu Chia-Hsin and Chang Ting-Wei produced well-placed serves to dominate the whole match. With the outstanding performance, Chinese Taipei sealed the comfortable straight-set 25-14, 25-12, 25-9 win.
Tu Chia-Hsin and Tseng Yu-Rou chipped in 12 points apiece for Chinese Taipei, with Chen Pin-Yu adding another 10. Chinese Taipei also limited the rivals’ offense to the point that no rivals’ player got to reach double digits in scoring against them. Middle blocker Bhoomika Appachath Ramilal scored 8 points on the India’s loss.
The Chinese Taipei’s dominance was also visible in the match stats as the winners dominated in all elements consisting of kills (41 to 19), blocks (3-1) and aces (19 to 4), besides benefiting from more opponent errors (12 to 11).
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan, sixth place at the previous edition, struggled hard to beat Hong Kong, China in hard-fought five-setter.
Led by hard-hitting Nargiz Abdygani and middle blocker Adiya Kuzhakhmetova, the Kazakh side performed superbly to take the first two sets with similar margin 25-21, 25-21, courtesy of the Abdygani’s deadly shots and solid blocks from the 183cm-tall Kuzhakhmetov and Violetta Volga.
Hong Kong, China intensified their defence and fought back hard, with Tang Sum Yuen and Lam Yet Ching leading the team’s scoring efforts to clinch the next two sets 25-14, 25-19, forcing the tiebreaker to determine the eventual winners.
Both sides gave it all out in the decider, but Kazakhstan performed well at home stretch to take the thrilling set 15-12 and the exhausting 132-minute match.
Kazakhstan had four players who reached double digits in scoring against their opponents. Nargiz Abdygani was the most productive player to deliver 19 points from 16 kills, one block and two aces, while Adiya Kuzhakhmetova bagged 13 points and Aidana Zhetessova and Violetta Volga added 11 points apiece. Tang Sum Yuen scored a match-high 23 points from 19 kills and team-leading 4 blocks on the Hong Kong, China’s loss.
The day’s last match saw Iran bounce back from a disappointing 7th place at the previous edition to a brilliant start this time with exceptional 25-20, 25-19, 25-20 victory against Philippines, fresh from winning bronze medal at the last week’s 22nd “Princess Cup” Women’s U18 Southeast Asian Championship at Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium.
Fielding tall players, whose height average is 180cm against the opponents’ 171cm, Iran performed well defensively and offensively, with talented Masoumeh Ghadamitabaghdehi and fellow outside hitter Aida Valinezhad serving the team’s purpose to stop the Philippines’ run with their aggressive attacks and Zahra Mohammadzadeh producing effective blocks.
With opposite Harlyn Serneche and middle blocker Avril Denise Bron on fire, Philippines tried hard to stage a comeback. Still, their attempt did not pay its dividends as the Iranians cruised on their attacks with resilience and consistency for the convincing straight-set win.
Masoumeh Ghadamitabaghdehi Abaghdehi chipped in 17 points from16 kills and one ace for Iran, while Aida Valinezhad and Yalda Jafari Khoulenjani contributed 11 and 9 points respectively. No Filipina reached double digits, with Akeyla Bartolabac leading the team with 7 points including 6 attacks from 25 attempts.
The pool round-robin preliminaries continue on Monday at both venues. At the Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium, Australia will take on India and Korea challenge Chinese Taipei in Pool D, while hosts Thailand, fresh from landing the Princess Cup tournament last week, will kick off their campaign against Macao, China in Pool A. At Ratchaburi Gymnasium, China face Kazakhstan in Pool C and Japan start their title defence against Iran in Pool B.
RESULTS AND POOL RANKING
POOL A
POOL B
POOL C
POOL D
MATCH SCHEDULE
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