Manama, Bahrain, August 3, 2024 – China and Iran will face off in the final of the 15th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship at Isa bin Rashid Arena here on Sunday.
China, which have yet to win the title but have finished runners-up twice, secured their place in the gold medal game with a thrilling 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-8) victory against a battling Pakistan on Saturday night.
Iran followed suit, taking down defending and three-time champions Japan 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-22) in the other semi-final affair.
The final is scheduled to take place at 7pm local time on Sunday at the Bahrain Volleyball Association’s Isa bin Rashid Arena in Riffa, located on the outskirts of the capital city of Manama.
A bronze medal contest between Pakistan and Japan will be held at 4.30pm.
The Chinese came up with huge plays throughout their match to eke out the hard-earned win. A timely block by Hu Hanlin gave them the opening set and the early match advantage, but then the Pakistanis struck back in the second and drew level with a Jabran service ace.
Li Xuyang was in sensational form for China in the third frame and following a net fault by Pakistan that gave their rivals set point, Li delivered to put his team ahead 2-1.
The Chinese then appeared to be on their way to the victory after carrying over their momentum into the fourth set. They took command early and went ahead 20-15. But the Pakistanis fought back and put in a fantastic 10-3 rally – capped by a crucial error on serve that gifted them a 24-23 advantage and a misfired attack by Yu Xiang that sent the contest into a tie-break.
There, China were able to regain their composure and were not to be denied. A double block gave them a 13-8 edge and they never looked back, securing their place in the title game for the first time since 2012.
Li finished with an impressive game-high of 30 points for the winners, including three straight sets in which he scored eight each. Yu added 21 while Ding Haocheng had 15. For Pakistan, Muhammad Yahya was their top man with 18 points, while Jabran Jabran chipped in 11.
Iran booked their berth and will now be looking to claim their eighth crown in the history of the competition, which would be their first since 2014. They lost in the last edition’s final in 2022 to the Japanese, and got their revenge this time around.
The Iranians were on the top of their game in Saturday’s clash and were able to stave off their rivals each time they mounted a…
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