AVC Men’s Champions League:
Keita on fire as Foolad falls short in final
Iranian club Foolad Sirjan was denied a third continental crown in five years after suffering a 3-1 setback (25-20, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23) against Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi in Sunday’s AVC Men’s Champions League final in Pontianak, Indonesia.
Malian opposite Noumory Keita made the difference between the two sides, chipping in a remarkable 38 points, including six aces, for the Indonesian outfit, which was backed by a crowd of more than 5,000 at the Terpadu Gymnasium.
The pinnacle of Keita’s performance perhaps came in the closing stages of the fourth set when, with the score level at 23-23, he nailed back-to-back aces to secure a maiden continental title for Indonesian volleyball.
Slovenian outside hitter Rok Mozic added another 16 points, including two aces, for the host team, while his teammate Farchan Vachrezy Surya Putra put away 11 points, and Cuban middle blocker Robertlandy Simon contributed six.
Middle blocker Amirhossein Toukhteh and outside hitter Pouria Hosseinkhanzadeh led the scoring for Foolad with 13 points apiece, while Bulgarian outside Aleksandar Nikolov – who joined the club on a short-term contract for the showpiece – finished on 12, including three aces.
Earlier in the day, JTEKT Stings Aichi hammered out a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-21) shutout of Hyundai Capital Skywalkers – thanks to a match-high 24 points from French opposite Stephen Boyer, including three kill blocks – to claim the bronze medal. Brazilian star outside hitter Ricardo Lucarelli delivered 11 points toward the Japanese side’s victory, while Chinese opposite Jiang Chuan was the South Korean Skywalkers’ leading scorer with 14 points.
There was, however, a bit of consolation for Foolad in the award ceremony, as three of Behrouz Ataei’s men were named in the tournament’s Dream Team, collecting individual prizes.
Nikolov and Hosseinkhanzadeh jointly received the Best Outside Hitter honors, with Ali Ramezani picking up the prize for Best Setter.
Keita, who also won the Asian title with Qatar’s Al Rayyan last year, was named Most Valuable Player and Best Opposite, while teammates Simon and Gumilar Ahmad earned the Best Middle Blocker awards.
JTEKT Stings Aichi’s Takahashi Kazuyuki was honored as Best Libero.
Foolad began the eight-team knockout tournament with a straight-set victory over Jakarta Garuda Jaya and then routed JTEKT Stings by the same scoreline to reach the final, making amends for last year’s setbacks against Japanese opposition in the semifinal and bronze-medal contest in Kyoto.
Despite the final heartbreak, Foolad will still join Bhayangkara Presisi in representing the continent at the FIVB Men’s Club World Championship later this year, returning to the global showpiece after a bronze-winning campaign at the 2024 edition in Uberlândia, Brazil.