Asian U20 volleyball off to hot start

TDT | Manama                                                             

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Former champions Iran, South Korea and China were amongst the winning teams yesterday on the opening day of action in the 21st Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship, currently being hosted by Bahrain at Isa Sports City in Riffa.

Six-time winners and defending champions Iran were triumphant in the match of the day, battling back from a set down to defeat fellow-contenders Japan 3-2 (27-25, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-8) in a Pool B thriller.

South Korea, also champions in six past editions, had a more lopsided win, sweeping past Qatar 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-21) in Pool C, while four-time titlists China needed to dig deep into their arsenal to come away with a 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-16, 25- 17) victory against Pakistan in Pool F.

In other games on day one, Bangladesh recovered from losing the opening set to defeat Iraq 3-1 (19-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-22) in Pool E, while recently crowned West Asian champions Saudi Arabia outclassed Hong Kong 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-19) in Pool A.

Tournament action continues today with six matches on the cards, starting from 2pm. Games are being played at both the Bahrain Volleyball Association’s Isa bin Rashid Arena and Bahrain Table Tennis Association Arena at Isa Sports City.

All are welcome to attend. Entrance is free of charge. In Iran’s win over Japan, the two teams matched each other point for point with neither being able to build a comfortable lead. That was until the tiebreak, when Iran led early and then rode their momentum to the end.

Amir Mohammad Golzadeh finished as the leading scorer for the winners with 24 points. Poshtrapi Kazemi and Hosseinkhanzadeh Pouria added 13 points apiece.

“We could have won easier but Japan were fighting very hard,” said Iran’s Arshia Behnezhad, adding: “We did our best.” Nishiyama Hiroto paced the Japanese with a game-high 27 points, while Takahashi Keihan and Tsuboya Haruto chipped in with 14 markers each in the narrow loss.

In South Korea’s straight-sets win, they were dominant from the opening serve and managed to stave off a late fightback from their opponents. Jang Bosuk was their top performer with 13 points in the game. Yunsoo Lee added 12 points while Seo Hyeonil had 10.

“It was quite an easy match; our reception was good, our service was perfect; it was a good game,” South Korea head coach Hang Sooyoung commented. Qatar’s Bakry Abdelrahman had nine points to pace his team. In today’s schedule of matches, Bahrain will be kicking off their campaign in Pool A when they face off with Hong Kong, who will be looking to bounce back from their opening setback.

The game is scheduled for a 7pm start and it will be held at the Isa bin Rashid Arena. The nationals are playing in the tournament with a 12-player squad, coached by Sabeur Abdulwahed. The roster includes team captain Husain Ehsan, Ridha Matrook, Ali Albosta, Hasan Warqa, Sayed Hashem Ali, Ali Abdulwahab, Ali Alarab, Sadeq Marhoon, Sayed Ahmed Ali, Husain Ramadhan, Hasan Alaiwi and Abbas Ehsan.