The 10th Asian Youth Championship -2014 commenced today at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium with the presence of Sri Lankan and foreign delegates. After the opening ceremony the First match for the day commenced between Sri Lanka vs Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at eleven o`clock local time. The lions provided the ideal start for the championship by diminishing hopes of the visitors with an exceptional victory of three sets to zero.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony began with the arrival of the Chief Guest Hon. Minister Dilan Perera and the invitees at nine o` clock local time. After the garlanding the fourteen teams that are participating in the tournament were welcomed by the delegates. Iran was the favourites among the teams as they have won the championship six times out of the seven times they have participated.
Delivering the welcome address, Hon. Minister Dilan Perera stated that the 10th Asian Youth Volleyball Championship will go down on the history of the youth tournaments as tournament which has managed to attract the most number of participating countries at one particular time. The opening ceremony was concluded with an cultural performance of the Sri Lankan Youth dance troop.
Inaugural Match – Sri Lanka vs. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Inaugural match of the tournament commenced one hour after the opening ceremony between the host nation and the middle-east giants.
Vishawana Chanaka served the ball to the visitors and was converted into points straight after and got the score board ticking. Sri Lanka started off with a flying start and led the game six pints to two when the first technical time-out was called. Lankan youth lads showed a good sense in the game as they were playing in to the weakness of the visitors with soft touches off the ball. The front line defence from Vinod Maduranga Peris, Chamudika Sudasinhage and Madushanka Fernando as they blocked almost half of the shots and helped the rest of the team-mates. Though Saudi Arabia came back right after the technical time out, Sri Lanka capitalised on the early lead and secured a handsome victory on the first set.
(First Set – Sri Lanka -25 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – 14)
After switching to the either sides of the court the second set began with immense support from the home crowd. Sri Lanka drew first blood and held a six-zero run for three minutes in the second set. Disciplinary action was taken against Wesam Algihani and was yellow carded by the referee also recorded as the first one for the tournament. Sri Lanka entirely dominated the second set and nothing was falling on the side of the visitors but just mistakes after mistakes. Good ball movement and passing around was the key to the home side to lead the game by ten points and finish the second set in a victorious manner.
(Second Set – Sri Lanka – 25 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – 15)
The game deciding set for both the sides commenced just few seconds after. Visitors stepped in with the hopes of saving the game and clinching it into their palms but the home team did not let the story flow in that manner. Vishwana Chanaka got the part started with a dash across the court which took the visitors off surprise. Saudi Arabia in-fact made a comeback when they lead the game for the first time by two points before the technical time out. However back to back shots from Chamudika Lakshan levelled the scoreboard and Shehan Lakshitha Bandara got the lead back to the home side. With pressure mounting up on the sleeves Saudi Arabia failed to secure the set even though then made a commendable comeback to the game. Home favourites won the game with a handsome victory of three sets to zero and did indeed graciously welcome everyone to the tournament.
(Third Set – Sri Lanka -25 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – 19)
ThePapare.com player of the match – Chamika Sandaruwan
