Surabaya, Indonesia, July 25, 2024 – 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 here 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.
The other Pool B clash saw former four-time champions China fight well in a tough match against Chinese Taipei to pull off dramatic four-set win 25-21, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21 in exhausting 102 minutes.
Middle blocker Gao Yuning and opposite Ke Xingyu scored 13 points apiece to steer China to the 3-1 win, while Jheng Wei-Jhih scored a match-high 24 points, all in attack, on the Chinese Taipei’s loss.
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.
Opposite Dawuda Alaihi was the Indonesia’s most productive player as he scored 20 points for the host side, while middle blocker Joel McGruther led Australia with 13 points from 10 kills, 2 blocks and one ace.
Saudi Arabia also made their mark to brush off Hong Kong, China in thrilling straight sets 25-19, 25-22, 25-21.
Rashad Abuelkhir chipped in 20 points from 19 kills and one ace for Saudi Arabia, while Lam Ho Wong led Hong Kong, China with 17 points, all in attack.
At Gelora Pancasila, Bangladesh swept Kuwait in comfortable straight sets in Pool C 25-15, 25-15, 25-11 in 56 minutes.
Outside hitter Ratul led the Bangladesh’s offense with 16 points, all…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Asian Volleyball Confederation…