Pakistan down Mongolia 3-0 in men’s volleyball

KARACHI: Pakistan crushed Mongolia 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-14) in their men’s volleyball match at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

Pakistan attacked the Mongolian defense right from the start, with Asif Nadeem and Sheraz — in front of the net — in great touch.A total of 13 spikes were key to Pakistan’s 25-16 victory in the first set, which lasted 21 minutes.

In the second set, Mongolia played more patiently and took control of the game. The hard spike of captain Davaajargal Altankhuyag gave Mongolia a 11-6 lead. But Pakistan managed to equalise and took the lead when Mongolia failed to return a Muhammad Idress ball, which gave them a 15-13 advantage.

After that, the scores were tight — 15-15, 16-16 and 17-17 — because both teams were equally tenacious in chasing points.

However, Pakistan handled the pressure better and took a 21-17 lead after Altangerel Enkhee’s ball went outside the field. The second set ended 25-19 in Pakistan’s favor after Mongolia’s defense failed to return Murad Jehan’s hard spike.

In the third set, Pakistan took an early 8-1 lead. Nasir Ali and his teammates were looking unbeatable and made the score 16-8.

Mongolia lost the third set 14-25.Pakistan and Mongolia will take on Iran on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. Meanwhile, Pakistan lost to Chinese Taipei in their group 3 handball match.

Pakistan scored 32 goals out of 49 attempts whereas Chinese Taipei scored 36 times in 55 attempts.

Shahid Pervaiz scored the first goal for Pakistan in the 5th minute. The scores were leveled at 4-4 in the 9th minute before the Chinese Taipei made the break to take lead at 7-4, which was extended to 10-7.

Pakistan made a comeback from the 3 goals deficit to equalize at 13-13. Chinese Taipei was leading 16-14 at the end of the first period.

Pakistan started the second period with high hopes and put in a great effort and closed the goal score to 22-21 in the 42nd minute but the Chinese Taipei proved a better team as the match ended in their favor at 36-32.

Shahid was the highest scorer for Pakistan with eight goals. Goalkeeper Tahir Ali saved 10 of the 43 shots on goal.

Pakistan will be up against Indonesia on Tuesday. Pakistani shooters flopped in rifle and shotgun events and failed to qualify for the finals.

In the 10 metre air rifle qualification round, Ghufran Adil stood 25th with scores of 616.8 points (104.7, 103.7, 102.5, 103.0, 100.0, 102.9) in six rounds.

Zeeshan-ul-Shakir stood 31st with scores of 611.1 points (99.4, 104.3, 102.0, 100.4, 102.6, 102.4) in six rounds.

In the 10 metre air rifle event for women, Nadra Raees scored 607.0 points (102.0, 102.6, 99.1, 103.6, 100.3, 99.4) in six rounds to claim the 37th position in the qualification round.

Minhal Suhail took the 38th position in the qualification round by scoring 605.2 points (101.5, 97.7, 103.7, 98.5, 99.8, 104.0) in six rounds.

In the trap event, Farrukh Nadeem claimed the 14th position by adding 47 points (24, 23) to his earlier score of 70 at the end of qualification round two. His total score was 117 (24, 23, 23, 24, 23) in five rounds.

Aamer Iqbal was 18th at the end of the qualification round two. He added 43 points (21, 22) to his first day score of 72. His total score was 115 (24, 25, 23, 21, 22) in five rounds.

Pakistan’s run for medals in tennis at Asian Games came to an end on Monday when all players lost their matches in their respective categories.

In men’s singles category, Abid Ali Akbar was beaten by Duckhee Lee of Korea 4-6, 2-6.

Aqeel Khan was defeated by Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 3-6, 1-6 in the second round.

In the doubles second round, Mohammad Abid and Muzammil Murtaza were beaten by the Uzbek duo of Farrukh Dustov and Denis Istomin 6(5)-7, 2-6.

Aqeel Khan and Abid Ali were defeated by Chengpeng Hsieh and Tsung-Hua Yang from Chinese Taipei 3-6, 1-6.

Pakistan had already lost in the mixed doubles event.

In ladies singles, Ushna Suhail was beaten by Chang Kaichen of Chinese Taipei 3-6, 1-6. Sara Mansoor lost to Liang En-Shuo of Chinese Taipei 1-6, 0-6 in the second round.

In women’s doubles category, Ushna Suhail and Sara Mehboob were defeated by the Indian duo of Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina and Prarthana Gulabrao Thombare 0-6, 0-6 in the first round.

The pair of Sara Mansoor and Ushna Suhail lost to Indonesia’s Joleta Budiman and Deria Nur Haliza 3-6, 6(4)-7.