Iran, China, Korea, India register first victory in AVC Cup for Men in Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan, August 18, 2014 – Strong teams sealed the first day victory over lower-ranked sides in the 4th AVC Cup for Men at the Baluan Sholak Sports and Culture Palace, with India thrashing hosts Kazakhstan in comfortable straight sets and title-holders China putting it past fighting Australia in hard-fought three-setter. World No.11 and Asian powerhouses Iran struggle to beat Thailand in hotly-contested five-set thriller In the curtain-raisers, indomitable Iran, fielding their second string squad in the top-notched one-week competition, played a close Pool B encounter to pull off a magnificent come-from-behind five-set 23-25 25-16 20-25 25-19 18-16 win over world No.37 Thailand. Powerful Jirayu Raksakaew, who was instrumental in lifting the Thailand’s maiden fourth-place finish in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, led the Thais with 25 tallies, all of which came from his devastating spikes, while Armin Ranjbar scored a match-high 22 points including 20 kills for Iran. After the 2-2 equaliser, both sides gave it all-out in the tie-breaker with a determined effort of winning the set and their first win in the prestigious tournament. The greater experience and a better form at the final assault gave Iran the closely-contested 18-16 win in the decider and the match. Defending champs China brush off Australia in hard-fought three sets 25-21 25-22 25-21 China, which stunned straight two-time winners Iran in the showdown to capture their first AVC Cup in the previous edition in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam two years ago, did some great damages in powerful jump serves by Zhu Zhiyuan and solid blocking by Zhu and Tang Chuanhang, making things very difficult in fightback for world No.12 Australia. Australia, which had tall and towering players in Chris Morrow, Trent O’Dea, Benjamin Bell, Arshdeep Dosanjh, BeauGraham, Alexander McMullin and Lincoln Williams, all of them stand 200cm and over, used their height advantage to attack spectacularly and block effectively, but the well-established Chinese excelled on their defence. Taking a commanding 2-0 led, China stormed on to win the third set, again in a tense affair. Zhu Zhiyuan emerged as the top scorer of China with 16 points including 13 attack hits, while Thomas Hodges led Australia with 10 points. Korea power past young Japan in exciting four sets Korea, world No.19 and runners-up to eventual winners Iran at the last year’s Asian Championship, clinched a dramatic 25-19 26-28 25-11 25-17 win over Japan, which won the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010. The Koreans mixed the fierce attacks from Jeon Kwangin with stuff blocking by Shin Yungsuk and Han Sunsoo to take the opening set. Conceding one set, Japan recovered to win the close second set. The remaining two sets were taken a complete control by the Koreans, who played more consistently in better form to win the one-sided battles. Jeon Kwangin topscored with 16 points for Korea, with Yuta Matsuoka led Japan with 14 points including 13 deadly attacks. India prove too strong for hosts Kazakhstan The match began at a fierce pace, with veteran Guriinder Singh grounding some huge spikes for India through the first set, which ended 25-23 in favour of the world No.37. Kazakhstan, cheered on by estimated 2,000 home crowds, tried to respond with great blocks by towering Anton Yudin, the tournament’s tallest player who stands 210cm tall, and the 201cm Nodirkhan Kadirkhanov. Still, despite the hosts’ serious challenge, the strong visitors stormed back mightily to take the comfortable second and third sets 25-17 25-19. Prabagaran tallied 13 points for India, while Marat Imangaliyev scored a match-high 10 points for Kazakhstan. “I’m very happy for the first-match win in this tournament. To beat the host side in the opening match was not that easy. We had to play 100 per cent or more against them. We won massive points through Kazakhstan’s poor reception and serves,” India’s head coach G.E. Sridharan commented in the press conference. “Every team competing in this tournament is strong. We next take on Japan and we have to play more than 100 per cent against them. We are preparing for the next month’s Asian Games in Incheon, Korea and therefore, this is our national team playing here although some junior players could be seen in our team.” A total of Asia’s top eight teams are pitted against one another in the top-flight 4th AVC Cup for Men, vying for the top honour and the US$25,000 up for grabs. Respective cash prizes at US$20,000 US$15,000, US$12,000, US$ 10,000, US$8,000, US$6,000 and US$4,000 are also on offer for teams finishing the second to the eighth places. The round-robin preliminaries see Korea, Japan, India and Kazakhstan competing in Pool A, while Pool B features Iran, Thailand, China and Australia. Monday’s results Pool A: South Korea b Japan 3-1 (25-19 26-28 25-11 25-17); India b Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-23 25-17 25-19) Pool B: Iran b Thailand 3-2 (23-25 25-16 20-25 25-19 18-16); China b Australia 3-0 (25-21 25-22 25-21) Tuesday’s match schedule 11am: Thailand v Australia 2pm: Japan v India 4pm: China b Iran 6pm: South Korea v Kazakhstan Photos 1. Team captains of India and Kazakhstan sign their names after the completion of their match. 2. Australias Max Staples stretches to dig an attack from China. 3. Players of China and Australia shake hands ahead of their match. 4. Korea celebrate their 3-1 win over Japan. 5. India celebrate their first-set win over Kazakhstan. 6. Kazakstan attacks India with a powerful spike.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 01:42:58 +0000
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