Colombo, Sri Lanka, October 8, 2024 – In-form Uzbekistan sealed a stunning comeback five-set victory over Turkmenistan to become the only unbeaten team on Day 3 of single round-robin preliminaries of the CAVA Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday.
Uzbekistan, which captured the first two wins against Kyrgyzstan and Nepal, performed brilliantly in their tough match against Turkmenistan, the only team which have yet lost a set to their opponents. Conceding the first two sets 23-25, 23-25, Uzbekistan played well and had a lot of respect for the fight they put in.
Uzbekistan’s Ogabek Haydarov was on fire in the third set. His intensity and threat on offense made him one of the most difficult to defend against from the right side. However, Yazmyrat Merdanov also proved an unstoppable force in the Turkmenistan’s lineup. Both teams exchanged attacks and crucial points until the score was leveled at 26-26 before Uzbekistan fared better at the home stretch to pick up two points in a row for the eventual 28-26 win.
The third-set win gave a big boost and confidence to Uzbekistan as they played much better in the fourth set, which they won comfortably 25-17, forcing the tie-breaker. Uzbekistan made their mark in the decider to win the set 15-8 and match.
Ogabek Haydarov delivered a match-high 26 points from 18 kills, 4 blocks and 4 aces for Uzbekistan, while compatriots Shokhboz Mamayusufov and Artyom Vaezilov contributed 14 and 10 points respectively. Yzamyrat Merdanov chipped in 23 points including 20 kills from 36 attempts on the Turkmenistan’s loss.
As Turkmenistan dominated in kills (55 to 44), Uzbekistan did a very good job in blocks (15 to 14) and aces (7 to 2) aside from benefitting from more opponent error (48 to 32).
Earlier, hosts Sri Lanka, which brushed off Maldives in straight sets for their first win on Monday, suffered a setback following their narrow five-set loss to Kyrgyzstan 25-16, 19-25, 20-25, 25-23, 9-15 on Tuesday.
Akmat Paiazuulu scored 14 points including 11 attacks from 25 attempts for the Kyrgyzstan’s first victory in the championship.
W.A.A. Thenuka contributed a match-high 23 points including 22 kills from 40 attempts, but failed in his effort of assisting the home side to win this match.
In the day’s first match, Nepal claimed their second win after 3-0 (25-5, 25-12, 25-20) demolition of Maldives.
Pahal Gahatraj led Nepal with 10 points, all in attack,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Asian Volleyball Confederation…