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Iran too strong for Qatar in Asian U-20 volleyball tournament
Iran, the seven-time champion, had previously defeated China and Chinese Taipei in Pool B, reported Tasnim News Agency.
After a dazzling number of hard-fought matches in the pool round-robin preliminaries, reigning champions Iran, hosts Indonesia, Japan, India, Korea, Kazakhstan, China and Saudi Arabia have secured Top 8 slots in the 22nd Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship at Jawa Pos Arena and Gelora Pancasila on Thursday.
The first six teams have earlier booked their berths in round of last 8 following their back-to-back wins in their pools on Wednesday, while China and Saudi Arabia filled the remaining two vacancies after winning their decisive encounters against Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong, China respectively on Thursday.
On Thursday, the last day of the pool play, defending and seven-time champions Iran continued their onslaughts in Pool B to demolish Qatar in a completely lopsided battle 25-11, 25-10, 25-11 in 60 minutes at Jawa Pos Arena.
Opposite Abolfazl Mahdian delivered 11 points from 7 kills, one block and 3 aces for Iran, while middle blocker Shayan Mehrabi and outside hitter Matin Soghli kept good company to add 10 points apiece. No Qatari player reached double digits in scoring, with middle blocker Mugtaba Salih claiming only 6 points including 4 kills from 10 attempts.
Contesting Pool A at the same arena, hosts Indonesia captured three wins in succession including a fantastic 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20) victory against Australia on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia also made their mark to brush off Hong Kong, China in thrilling straight sets 25-19, 25-22, 25-21.
At Gelora Pancasila, Bangladesh swept Kuwait in comfortable straight sets in Pool C 25-15, 25-15, 25-11 in 56 minutes.
Former three-time winners Japan struggled to beat India, silver medallists at the previous edition in Riffa, Bahrain two years ago, with tie-break win 25-14, 25-15, 25-27, 17-25, 15-13.
In Pool D, Vietnam played a see-saw battle against Thailand to stun the fourth place in Riffa 3-2 (25-12, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11 in exhausting 118 minutes.
Former six-time champions Korea proved a class above Kazakhstan to beat the opponents 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-20, 25-13).
At the end of the pool play on Thursday, Indonesia topped Pool A with 9 points from three straight wins, while Saudi Arabia finished second with 6 points from two wins against one loss.
Hong Kong, China came in third place with 3 points from one win against two losses and Australia lost three matches in a row to finish fourth place with no point earned.
Mighty Iran dominated Pool B with 9 points from three wins in succession and became the only team in the one-week championship not to drop a single set to their respective opponents in the pool play.
China had 6 points from two wins against one loss to come in second place. Chinese Taipei finished third with 3 points from one win against two losses, while winless Qatar came in fourth place overall with no point earned.
In Pool C, Japan captured the top spot with 8 points from three wins on the trot, while India had 6 points from two wins against one loss to come in second place. Bangladesh finished third position with 4 points from one win against two losses and lacklustre Kuwait ended in fourth place without scoring a point.
Korea topped Pool D with 9 points from three wins in a row, while Kazakhstan had 5 points from two wins against one loss. Vietnam finished third place with 2 points from one win against two losses, while Thailand came in fourth place with 2 points from three straight losses.
With top two teams from each pool advancing to the Top 8 round, teams finishing third and fourth places from each pool were relegated to classification round for 9th-16th places.
As a result, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia from Pool A, Iran and China from Pool B, Japan and India from Pool C and Korea and Kazakhstan from Pool D entered the Top 8 round, with Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Japan and India fighting it out in Pool E and Iran, China, Korea and Kazakhstan pitted against each other in Pool F.
The remaining lower-ranked teams will next contest the classification round for 9th-16th places, with Hong Kong China, Australia, Bangladesh and Kuwait competing in Pool G and Chinese Taipei, Qatar, Vietnam and Thailand battling it out in Pool H.
Friday, July 26 was the rest day for recovery. The competition resumes on Saturday and Sunday with 1st-8th playoff matches and classification round for 9th-16th places.