South Korea, Thailand in Asian U20 volleyball semis

TDT | Manama                                                             

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

South Korea and Thailand both punched their tickets last night to the semi-finals of the 21st Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship, currently being hosted by the Kingdom at Isa Sports City in Riffa. South Korea secured their berth following a resounding 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-20) win over Bangladesh, while Thailand marched through after edging past China 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12) in a high-intensity clash between two previously unbeaten teams.

South Korea now take on defending champions Iran in the final four while Thailand face off with India. Both semis contests are scheduled for today along with other classification fixtures as part of a packed eight-game schedule. Action begins from 11.30am at the Bahrain Volleyball Association’s Isa bin Rashid Arena and the Bahrain Table Tennis Association Arena, both at Isa Sports City.

All are welcome to attend. Entrance is free of charge. The winners of the two semi-finals will not only have the chance to contest for the gold medals, but they will also earn the two places as Asian representatives at the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship.

In South Korea’s win last night, the six-time former champions put on an impressive display and flexed their muscles against tournament debutants Bangladesh. Middle blocker Hyeonbin Jeong said after the game: “We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy match, but since our reception and service were good, it went well and we will try to keep this going on as we move forward.

“We are not yet at the exact point we want to be as a team, but if we keep it up, we believe we can get the tickets to the world championship.” Of their semi-final match-up against Iran, who are also sixtime champions, Jeong said: “Iran has strong attacking as well as good height for blocking. If we could focus on our play, maybe we can get the win.”

In Thailand’s victory, they needed to dig deep into their arsenal to oust their Chinese opponents in a match that could have gone either way. The Thais, who were the bronze-medallists in the previous edition of the tournament, trailed late in the fifth set, 9-11, but they then closed things out with a furious 6-1 rally. Phasit Sukaew finished as their leading scorer with 22 points in the match, while Zhou Xin paced China with 20 markers.

Thailand outside hitter Kittipong Sangsak said about their win: “This was a very important match for us. We did not want to lose as we would go out of the tournament.” Looking ahead to the final four, Sangsak is expecting just as tough a challenge against India.

“India have more height than us, so maybe they are physically better than us, but if we can do better on serve and connect from that, we will have a chance to win against them,” he said. Meanwhile, Pakistan posted a convincing 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 27-25) sweep of Qatar in their classification contest yesterday. Aimal Hayat and Muhammad Ajmal had 13 points apiece to spearhead the victors. Pakistan next play Saudi Arabia today.

Iraq edged past the UAE 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 15- 10) in a five-setter. Hasan Taha scored 29 points to lead the winners in the match. With their result, the Iraqis set up a clash with hosts Bahrain, while the Emiratis will take on Qatar. Both classification matches are also scheduled for today. In other games yesterday, Chinese-Taipei cruised past Hong Kong 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-17) while Japan outclassed Australia 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-14) in a pair of classification matches for 13th to 16th.

Yi-Kay Wen was the leading scorer for Chinese-Taipei in their win, finishing with 20 points. For Japan, Hiroto Nishiyama had 13 points to pace his team. Chinese-Taipei will next take on Japan for 13th place overall, while Hong Kong and Australia battle for 15th. Both games will be held today