Ninh Binh, Vietnam, June 30, 2017 – Vietnam Sports Club, Bank Sarmayeh, Altay VC and Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza topped their pools at the end of the round-robin preliminaries on Friday at the SMM 2017 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship, in which the eventual winners will qualify for the next year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship as Asia’s representatives.
With only top two teams advancing to the round of the last eight teams,
Altay VC on Friday made a perfect sweep in Pool C after the Kazakh side pulled off a stunning 27-25, 26-24, 25-22 victory over Qatar’s Al Arabi Sports Club, the strong team which claimed silver at the previous edition in Myanmar last year.
“Al Arabi Sports Club are a strong team with many good players. But today maybe they had some problems. It was not their best day. I am quite satisfied with my team’s performance. They did a good job on attacks and defense. We prepared intensively about one month for this championship as we would like to play in the final round,” Altay’s head coach Rafail Gilyazutdinov commented after the match.
Earlier, Air Force VC made a swan song in the pool preliminaries when the Thailand League winners overwhelmed Maldivian Sports & Recreation Club in comfortable straight sets 25-15 25-9 25-21. Despite the win in their last Pool D match, the Thai team were relegated to the 9th-13th classification round.
In the last match at the Ninh Binh site, Vietnam Sports Club played confidently in front of a big crowd of cheering home fans as the host side bagged their second win in the top-notch championship following an impressive 3-1 (25-19 17-25 26-24 25-20) win over Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
Meanwhile, at the Nam Dinh Gymnasium on Friday, terrific Matthew Aubrey’s 24 points including 19 kills from 43 attempts could not assist Australia’s Canberra Heat to beat Yan Chai Club as the Hong Kong side cruised past the Australian counterparts in exhausting five-setter 25-18 10-25 18-25 29-27 15-10.
The other match which was earlier expected to be a clash of the Titans with fired-up Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza from Japan taking on Beijing Baic Motor from China saw the much stronger former dispose of the latter in straight sets 25-19 25-15 25-19.
At the end of the pool preliminaries on Friday, Vietnam Sports Club topped Pool A with 6 points from successive two wins, followed by Al-Bahri SC from Iraq with 3 points. Winless Sri Lanka Ports Authority came in third position.
Title-holders Bank Sarmayeh from Iran captured the Pool B top spot after collecting 3 points from a sensational win over Taichung Commercial Bank. The Chinese Taipei team came in second place. Only two teams contested Pool B.
Undefeated Altay VC from Kazakhstan emerged as the Pool C winners with 9 points from three wins in a row. Qatar’s Al-Arabi, Yan Chai from Hong Kong and Australia’s Canberra Heat finished second, third and fourth places with 6, 2 and 1 points respectively.
Japan’s Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza stamped their authority in Pool D with 9 points from straight three wins. Beijing Baic Motor finished second with 6 points from two wins against one loss, with Thailand’s Air Force and Maldivian Sports & Recreation Club in third and fourth places with 4 and 0 point respectively.
Teams advancing to the round of the last eight teams comprise Vietnam Sports Club (Vietnam), Al-Bahri Sport Club (Iraq), Bank Sarmayeh (Iran), Taichung Commercial Bank (Chinese Taipei), Altay VC (Kazakhstan), Al Arabi SC (Qatar), Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan) and Beijing Baic Motor (China).
Friday’s results
Pool preliminary round
At Ninh Binh Gymnasium
Pool A: Vietnam Sports Club (Vietnam) b Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Sri Lanka) 3-1 (25-19 17-25 26-24 25-20)
Pool C: Altay VC (Kazakhstan) b Al Arabi Sports Club (Qatar) 3-0 (27-25 26-24 25-22)
Pool D: Air Force VC (Thailand) b Maldivian Sports & Recreation Club (Maldives) 3-0 (25-15 25-9 25-21)
At Nam Dinh Gymnasium
Pool C: Yan Chai (Hong Kong) b Canberra Heat (Australia) 3-2 (25-18 10-25 18-25 29-27 15-10)
Pool D: Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan) b Beijing Baic Motor (China) 3-0 (25-19 25-15 25-19)
Team Rankings after pool preliminaries
Pool A: 1. Vietnam Sports Club (Vietnam) 6 points; 2. Al-Bahri Sport Club (Iraq) 3 points; 3. Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Sri Lanka) 0 point
Pool B: 1. Bank Sarmayeh (Iran) 3 points; 2. Taichung Commercial Bank (Chinese Taipei) 0 point
Pool C: 1. Altay VC (Kazakhstan) 9 points; 2. Al Arabi Sports Club (Qatar) 6 points; 3. Yan Chai (Hong Kong) 2 points; 4. Canberra Heat (Australia) 1 point
Pool D: 1. Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan) 9 points; 2. Beijing Baic Motor (China) 5 points; Air Force VC (Thailand) 4 points; 4. Maldivian Sports & Recreation Club (Maldives) 0 point
Match Schedule
Sunday, July 2, 2017
At Ninh Binh Gymnasium
3pm: 1st-8th: 1B-Bank Sarmayeh (Iran) v 2D-Beijing Baic Motor (China)
5.30pm: 1st-8th: 1C-Altay VC (Kazakhstan) v 2A-Al-Bahri Sport Club (Iraq)
8pm: 1st-8th: 1A-Vietnam Sports Club (Vietnam) v 2C-Al Arabi Sports Club (Qatar)
At Nam Dinh Gymnasium
5.30pm: 9th-13th: 3A-Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Sri Lanka) v 4C-Canberra Heat (Australia)
8pm: 1st-8th: 1D-Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan) v 2B-Taichung Commercial Bank (Chinese Taipei)
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