Ulanbaataar, Mongolia, May 21, 2017 – Hosts Mongolia, Chinese Taipei and reigning champions Japan all recorded straight-set wins on Day 2 of the 2017 Asian Eastern Zonal Men’s Volleyball Championship at Buyant-Uhaa Sports Arena on Sunday.
Due to the withdrawal of China, hosts Mongolia had a bye on the opening day and their first match on Sunday attracted around 2,000 spectators on site to support them.
Mongolia had a sluggish start in their match against Macao, seeing them fall behind all the way from 2-8 at the first technical time-out to 14-16 at the second as they played nervously. But they put themselves back on the right track at the end of the first set and following a long rally finished by Ankhbayar, Mongolia reached their first lead at 19-18. Thereafter, they stormed a 6-3 wave to finish the set 25-21.
With more confidence in mind and louder cheering by supporters, Mongolians played better and firmly controlled the advantages in the remaining two sets. Within 68 minutes, they conquered the team Macao 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-17) to delight home supporters and officials on site.
Before the match, a simple opening ceremony was held featuring the welcome speech from Mr. Batsuuri Jamiyansuren, Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Sport, and Mr. Bayatbaatar Tsendsuren, President of Mongolian Volleyball Association, followed by two impressive folklore performances.
In the other two matches in Pool B, title-holders Japan continued their winning streak by sweeping Hong Kong 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-16), while Chinese Taipei recovered from their opening 1-3 loss to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-21) victory over DPR Korea, letting the latter at an unfavorable position in the Pool. Huang Chien-Feng was remarkable as he launched several serve missiles at the crucial moments to help Chinese Taipei break the balance.
The pool round-robin preliminaries will have their final round Monday, which will decide the top two teams of each pool to the quarter-finals.
The Asian Eastern Zonal Men’s Volleyball Championship is a biennial official competition of AVC Eastern Zonal Volleyball Association. The championship, which will be held from May 20 to 25, 2017, serves as a celebration for the 90th anniversary of the development of volleyball in Mongolia and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Mongolian Volleyball Association this year. Last edition was also held in Ulanbaataar of Mongolia with Japan claiming the title, Chinese Taipei finishing runners-up and Korea in third place.
Match schedule and results:
May 20
15:00 Hong Kong, China – DPR Korea 0-3 (11-25, 17-25, 14-25)
17:00 Japan – Chinese Taipei 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 21-25, 25-17)
19:00 Korea – Macau, China 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-9)
May 21
14:00 Chinese Taipei – DPR Korea 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-21)
16:00 Opening Ceremony
17:00 Mongolia – Macau, China 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-17)
19:00 Japan – Hong Kong, China 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-16)
May 22
15:00 Chinese Taipei – Hong Kong, China
17:00 DPR Korea – Japan
19:00 Mongolia – Korea
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