Japan backed their first win in the tournament after outclassing Sri Lanka in straight sets 25-14 25-21 25-17, relegating the rivals to the 9th-11th classification round at the SMM 11th Asian Boys’ U19 Volleyball Championship at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium.
Japan got off to a flying start with an easy 25-14 win in the opening set, but Sri Lanka clawed their way back to challenge the Japanese seriously in the second set. With Yuji Nishida and the 203cm-tall Shunichiro Sato puncturing the rivals’ defence, Japan took the hard-fought set 25-21.
Thailand dents Sri Lanka hopes; Myanmar, Korea & China win
In-form Thailand got off to a convincing start after thrashing Sri Lanka in a comfortable straight-set…
Sri Lanka, who went down in straight sets to Thailand the previous match, tried hard to come back, but failed miserably. Japan captured the set 25-17 and the match.
Shunichiro Sato scored a team-high 15 points for Japan, 8 of them through devastating attacks. He also led in serving with 5 ace serves, while Peris Hewa led Sri Lanka with 16 points.
“This is our first match and I think we did a lot of mistakes. We didn’t play well as we did while training. We next take on Thailand. We watched them play against Sri Lanka and after this we will plan how to play them. We finished second in the previous edition and hope to win the title this time,” Japan’s head coach Hiroshi Honda commented.
Korea v Iran
Korea, led by powerful attacker Im Donghyeok, who scored a match-high 19 points in the previous match against Bangladesh, pulled off a stunning straight-set 25-19 25-21 25-21 victory over title-holders and hot favourites Iran to make a clean sweep.
Indomitable Iran, title-holders and seven-time champions, tried hard to recover from their poor start caused by their unforced service mistakes. However, Korea, fielding more individual talents, played exceptionally well in solid defence and spectacular attacks to win the first set 25-19.
Conceding one set, Iran counter-attacked well in the second set, thanks to smashing machine Morteza Sharifi’s lightning-fast spikes to take a commanding 13-8 lead. Their good show did not last long when Korea gradually pulled their game together.
Im Donghyeok penetrated the Iranian defence apart with his powerful, sharp spikes. Korea caught up with Iran at 17-17 and stormed on to win the hard-fought set 25-21. With Im Donghyeok and Lim Sungjin taking a splendid offensive combination, Korea continued their remarkable run in the third set.
Iran attempted to cope well with the tough rivals’ tactics, but failed to make their mark. Korea captured the thrilling set 25-21, with Im Donghyeok handing the team the last two points.
Korea completed their pool round-robin preliminaries with two straight wins and is assured of topping Pool B with six points. Iran will play Bangladesh in their last preliminary match on Thursday.
After the match, Korea’s team manager Ha Taemin said, “At first, we thought that Iran will play much better than today. However, this is Iran’s first match and it’s possible that they played nervously. We played what we have to do and that’s why we won. We gathered for team training for one month before this tournament. We also played with other Korean teams to gain more experience including Army and University teams. Our initial target is we try to finish top four which will guarantee us to compete in the FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship. However, after beating Iran, I think my team has good condition and will perform better and better. In my opinion, China is very strong, but not skillful. If we do our best, anything can happen.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s Head Coach Mohammad Vakili expressed his dissatisfaction over his team’s performance, citing that they made too many mistakes in this tough match against Korea.
“Korea played a good match. We, as defending champions, started with a 3-0 win in the previous edition a few years ago, but now this Iran team lost in straight sets in our first match. It was very disappointing. Iran had no motivation and their mentality condition is not good. My players made too many mistakes. Korea played this match much better than the day before. However, this is just our first loss in the tournament, while Korea, one win over our team cannot guarantee them that they will become champions.”
Australia v Hong Kong
Hong Kong have been relegated to 9th-11th classification following straight two losses at the pool round-robin preliminaries including a bitter 15-25, 7-25, 21-25 loss to Australia on Wednesday.
Hong Kong, going down in straight sets to hosts Myanmar in their curtain-raisers the previous day, played a must-win match against the Aussies to keep their hopes of advancing to the next round alive. However, Australia completely shattered their dreams.
Australia, riddled with unforced service mistakes in the opening set, took the height advantage to attack and block effectively to win the first two sets with ease 25-15 25-7. Determined Hong Kong played with nothing to lose in the third set, hoping to make amends.
With the tightened defence, the Hong Kong’s fight back was fruitful when they closed the margin at 17-17. Australia, whose height average is 195cm against smaller-built rivals’ 177cc, captured the set 25-21 and match.
James Takken led Australia with 10 points including 6 ace spikes. Thomas Heptinstall and Jayden Fathers contributed 9 and 8 points respectively through their deadly attacks, while Lam Yin Chun scored 8 points including 7 attack hits for Hong Kong.
Australia on Thursday will next challenge hosts Myanmar to decide the winners of Pool A. However, both sides have already qualified for the round of last eight teams in the nine-day championship.
“It’s good to win our first match. Hong Kong is a good team with young people. Our team has also many young players and they were very nervous coming up in the first set against Hong Kong which saw them make several unforced service and spiking mistakes. I think after this match, my players will get more confidence for the next match against Myanmar. It should be much better if there are more spectators at the venue to make some noises which will help boost the competition atmosphere,” Australia’s head coach Andrew McCaskill commented after the match.
