(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Chinthana Wasala
|
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Qatar advanced to the final of the 2024 Asian Men's Volleyball Challenge Cup with a thrilling 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan in Isa Town, Bahrain, yesterday.
Al Annabi spikers, making their debut appearance in the continental showpiece, continued their impressive run as they overpowered the Central Asian opponents with scores of 25-16, 19-25, 25-19, and 25-16 in one hour and 35 minutes. They will take on Pakistan in the title clash today.
Yesterday, Kazakhstan started off with a strong attack, even leading 3-2 early in the first set, but Qatar continued to apply pressure with their skillful attacks while blocking their opponents' spikes.
Kazakhstan took the lead on two more occasions in the first set, at 6-5 and 7-6, but Qatar came back strongly to wrap up the set win with a clear gap (25-16). Despite a resilient comeback from Kazakhstan in the second set, which they won 25-19, Qatar bounced back to secure the next two sets with scores of 25-19 and 25-16 thanks to their rock solid blocking capabilities and powerful spikes.
Qatar reached the semi-final on Thursday after overcoming China with a dominant performance.
They beat the Chinese outfit with a convincing 25-19, 25-19, and 25-19 victory, proving they deserve a place in the semis.
Blocking Qatar's path to the title glory are Pakistan, who later bt South Korea 3:1 in the second semi-final yesterday.
Pakistan took the first set 25-22, but South Korea responded by securing the second set at 26-24. However, Pakistan fought back strongly to regain control of the match, winning the next two sets with scores of 25-22 and 25-22, wrapping up the victory in two hours and seven minutes to advance.
Earlier, in the classification matches, Bahrain bt Australia in the 7th place play-off with a straight-set victory, scoring 25-17, 25-22, and 25-20. Meanwhile, in the 5th place match, China beat Vietnam 3-1, with scores of 25-19, 25-21, 26-28, and 25-21.
The losing semi-finalists, South Korea and Kazakhstan will also meet today in the third place play-off.
MENAFN09062024000063011010ID1108311854
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.