International Volleyball

UNBEATEN UZBEKISTAN ONE STEP CLOSER TO TOPPING PRELIMINARY STANDINGS AFTER 3-0 ROUT OF MALDIVES ON DAY 5 OF CAVA MEN’S U20 CHAMPIONSHIP

UNBEATEN UZBEKISTAN ONE STEP CLOSER TO TOPPING PRELIMINARY STANDINGS AFTER 3-0 ROUT OF MALDIVES ON DAY 5 OF CAVA MEN’S U20 CHAMPIONSHIP

Maldives’ Mohamed Shiham Yaish attacks Uzbekistan

Colombo, Sri Lanka, October 10, 2024 – Uzbekistan extended their perfect run on Day 5 of the CAVA Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium here after securing a fantastic straight-set win against the Maldives.

Uzbekistan, which have yet lost a match to their respective opponents, performed brilliantly in the match which turned out to be one-way traffic on Thursday. Uzbekistan, led by Adilbek Muratabaev, came up with really good serving, while Bilolbek Hakimov’s effective blocking and the team’s defence created a lot of problems to the Maldives.

Uzbekistan took the first two sets without much effort 25-12, 25-10, but the Maldives regained their composure in the third set and challenged the rivals seriously. Still, they could not keep their rhythm until the end. Uzbekistan went on their attacks to capture the set 25-16 and the 61-minute match.

Adilbek Muratabaev played a big role in leading Uzbekistan to the straight-set victory, bagging 16 points from 9 attacks and 7 aces, while Bilolbek Hakimov added another 13 points. Ali Iyan led Maldives with 9 points including 7 attacks from 18 attempts.

Elsewhere, Turkmenistan powered past host nation Sri Lanka 3-1 (25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16) in a well-fought encounter.

Bayramgeldi Berdiyev tallied 11 points including 4 blocks and 2 aces for Turkmenistan, while Yazmyrat Merdanov contributed 10, all in attack. Thenuka W. A. A. was the Sri Lanka’s most productive player to deliver an impressive 18 points including 17 attacks from 42 attempts.

As Sri Lanka fared better in attacks (43 to 39), Turkmenistan did a very good job in blocks (12 to 11) and benefitted more from opponent error (43 to 24). Both sides performed well in service to carry out 3 aces apiece.

The final match saw Kyrgyzstan survive a huge scare from Nepal to capture a hard-fought five-set thriller 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 22-25, 19-17 in exhausting 126 minutes.

Zalkarbek Ergeshov scored a match-high 22 points from 21 kills and one block for Kyrgyzstan, with Akmat Paiazuulu and Temirlan Temirbekov contributing 16 and 15 points respectively.

Nepal had five players who scored double digits, with Sagar Rasouli harvesting 22 points including 21 kills from 41 attempts. Shailendra Yadav and Arjun Nepali added 17 and 11 points respectively, while Vishwas Adhikari and Pahal Gahatraj scored 10 apiece.

As teams had completed four matches, with just one left in the single…

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