Surabaya, Indonesia, July 28, 2024 – Following the conclusion of the action-packed Top 8 round of the 22nd Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship at Jawa Pos Arena and Gelora Pancasila here on Sunday, the matchups and updated schedule for do-or-die semifinals have been confirmed, with hosts Indonesia going up against title-holders Iran and unbeaten Japan fighting it out with formidable Korea.
In the classification round for 1-8 on Sunday, the Pool E encounters saw India, silver medallists at the previous edition in Riffa, Bahrain two years ago, survive a scare from Saudi Arabia to beat the fighting opponents in hard-fought four-setter 25-22, 27-29, 25-16, 33-31.
Opposite Aryan Baliyan chipped in 22 points from 21 kills and one block for India, while outside hitters Soham Dinesh More and Kartik Sharma contributed 21 and 15 points respectively. Rashad Abuelkhir scored a match-high 25 points including 22 kills from 38 attempts on the Saudi Arabia’s loss.
In another Pool E clash, former three-time winners Japan continued their unbeaten run in this topflight championship following their closely-contested 28-26, 25-22, 25-21 win against hosts Indonesia.
Opposite Hiroki Bito tallied 21 points from 18 kills, 2 blocks and one ace for Japan, while outside hitter Krisna led the host side with 11 points, all in attack.
In Pool F, defending and seven-time champions Iran, which also captured the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship in Bahrain to their name, overcame a sturdy challenge from Korea to beat the former six-time winners in hard-fought five-set thriller 25-22, 25-20, 24-26, 23-25, 15-8 in exhausting 135 minutes.
Outside hitter Seyed Matin Hosseini Tolouti and middle blocker Taha Behboudnia steered Iran to the victory, leading the team’s offense with 22 and 20 points respectively.
Matin had 20 attacks from 36 attempts plus two blocks, while Taha led the team’s blocking with 7 points aside from 13 kills. Outside hitter Yoon Hajun scored 13 points including 12 kills on the Korea’s loss.
Kazakhstan pulled off upset 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-20) win against former four-time winners China in another Pool F match on Sunday.
Opposite Diyorbek Ikramov emerged as the Kazakhstan’s top scorer with 15 points from 12 kills, 2 blocks and one ace, while opposite Ke Xingyu was the China’s lone player who reached double digits, scoring 10 points from 8 kills, one block and one ace.
At the end of the two-day classification round for…
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