Hangzhou, China, September 22, 2023 – Title race heats up at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 Men’s Volleyball Competition, as six unbeaten teams stamped their marks as strong title contenders and Korea and Chinese Taipei, respective silver and bronze medallists at the previous 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, suffered major setbacks to stay out of contention.
Top 12 teams battled it out in the topflight competition to strive for Top 6 slots on Friday. Iran, Japan, China, Qatar, India and Pakistan accomplished their goals and continued unbeaten streaks, while Thailand, Korea, Bahrain, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan went down to their respective opponents in cross matches in last 12 round and were relegated to classification round for ranking 7-12.
At Linping Sports Center Gymnasium on Friday, indomitable Iran, defending and consecutive two-time Asian Games winners, powered their way into the Top 6 round following their exceptional straight-set 25-21, 25-18, 25-16 win against AVC Challenge Cup champions Thailand.
Middle blocker Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi and outside hitter Amirhossin Esfandiar combined well in leading the Iran’s offense with 11 points each, while devastating left-hander Amin Esmaeilnezhad and middle blocker Mohammad Valizadeh kept good company to add 10 points apiece.
Opposite spiker Napadet Bhinijdee contributed 16 points, all in attack, for Thailand.
“I think Thailand played well in reception and attacks. They had good transition, playing with high level. We watched their matches for 5-6 times and had good analysis. We had good tactics. However, our third match today took place in different venue we used to play in and the starting time at 10am for us is very difficult. However, this is a problem for every team. Our target is to defend our Asian Games title. Everyone in my team was satisfied with the result. We need more times, but we will play only five matches here. The other teams will play six matches and we next have a rest day. Thailand head coach Mr Park Ki Won coached Iran before and I think he knew Iranian players very well. Overall, I’m happy with my team’s performance. They played well with good attack, service and kill blocks,” Iran assistant coach Mr Alireza Taloo Kian commented after the match.
Thailand setter Mawin Maneewong said, “I think it’s a tough match and our performance dropped after we went down to Qatar the previous day. I admit that my performance also dropped despite the…
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