Clash for gold

Manama : Iran and Korea set up a mouth-watering clash this evening for the coveted gold medals in the 19th Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship, being held in Bahrain.

The Iranians secured their berth in the final after beating an inspired Thailand 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 15-25, 25-14) in a hotly contested game that saw them lose their first set in five matches since the start of the competition. The Koreans then bo≠≠oked their seats following a well-deserved 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) triumph against underdogs Iraq. Both games were played at Isa Sports City in Riffa, where the final will be played today (Editor’s note: July 28) evening.

By setting up their winner-take-all meeting, Iran and Korea lived up to their billing as the two top-ranked teams in the tournament. Both nations were regarded to be amongst the strongest heading into play, and they did not disappoint as they had also entered the knockout stages as first and second seeds, respectively.

Also following their victories, both Iran and Korea secured their qualification for the 2019 FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship as the representatives of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC). Only the top two teams from this tournament would earn berths in the worlds.

Today’s gold medal game is scheduled for a 7pm start. It is a re-match of their Preliminary Round meeting from last week, which was an affair that was taken comfortably by the Iranians.

Bahrain victorious

Elsewhere yesterday, Bahrain were also victorious on the penultimate evening of the championship. They battled back from a set down to defeat Turkmenistan 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-8) in one of several classification contests.

In other matches, Macau beat the Maldives, Taipei defeated Kazakhstan, China beat Australia, India overcame Saudi Arabia, Japan swept past Pakistan, and New Zealand overcame a tough challenge from Jordan in a five-setter.

Iran opened their semi-final against Thailand as the early aggressors, taking the first two sets with ease. But the tables were turned in the third set, and the Thais were able to achieve something no other team had done so far in Iran’s previous four matches – they managed to take a set. But Thailand’s cheers were short-lived as Iran took back control in the fourth and closed things out decisively.

“I am happy very happy with this win,” said Iran head coach Behrouz Ataei. “Our first goal coming here was to secure our berth in the world championship, and we had done that.

“Yes, we lost our first set today, but we are not here just to take all the matches 3-0. It is not often in the sport that it happens, but we are here to win matches and to show quality in volleyball. I was not concerned at all after that third set; I know my boys have some confidence and would bounce back.

Morteza Sharifi was the best scorer for Iran with 24 points, including 22 on attack. Porya Yali added 21, while team captain Amirhossein Esfandiar had an impressive seven aces. Assanaphan Chantajorn paced Thailand with 15 points in defeat.