Pakistan to meet India in Asian Men’s Under-23 Volleyball semis today

KARACHI: Pakistan set up semi-final clash with India when they overwhelmed Kazakhstan 3-1 in the quarter-final of the 3rd Asian Men’s Under-23 Volleyball Championships at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on Friday.

This was the sixth successive win for the Green-shirts in the 16-team event. As was expected, Pakistan continued their glorious run, forcing the Kazakhs to make mistakes in the duel which Pakistan eventually won with an enviable ease.

India defeated Australia 3-1 in the other quarter-final, also on Friday. Japan defeated Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei ousted China in straight sets to set the other semi-final battle which will also be held on Saturday (today).

Led by spiker Fahad Raza, Pakistan started the quarter-final against Kazakhstan in aggressive fashion. They forced the opponents to make mistakes time and again with the Green-shirts sealing the set 25-21.

In the second set, Pakistani spikers were even more merciless in their approach and won the set quite convincingly (25-18) to double their lead. In the third set, Kazakhstan showed some grace and won it 25-17 to reduce the deficit to 1-2.

But this did not deter technically strong Pakistan who bounced back remarkably to win the fourth set 25-21, sealing a comfortable win. Pakistan topped the four-team group in preliminaries with three straight wins: against Qatar, Bahrain and Chinese Taipei. They then led the 1-8 classification phase (quarter-finals league) with two wins on the trot against Sri Lanka and Australia to make it to the quarter-finals.

This is the first time that Pakistan have reached the semi-finals in the brief history of this event. In August 2008 in Iran, Pakistan clinched their first-ever bronze medal in the Asian Junior Volleyball Championships under the supervision of Iranian coach Ali Reza Moameri. But in that event a few senior players were also allowed to feature.

Pakistan’s skipper Fahad was satisfied with the way his charges played against Kazakhstan. “The boys played really well today,” Fahad told ‘The News’ from Myanmar after the match on Friday.

He was optimistic about Pakistan’s victory over India in the semi-final. “All players are very happy that they will meet India in the semi-final tomorrow. It would be a high-voltage game and I am very much confident God Almighty will bestow victory on us,” Fahad said.

Pakistan Volleyball Federation’s (PVF) chairman Chaudhry Yaqoob was also satisfied with his team’s achievement so far. “The team has done really well so far,” he said. “In today’s match Murad Khan, Hamid, Umar Faryad and Fahad had major contributions. Fahad was a little out of form in previous matches but today he again showed his class. He has regained his confidence which is extremely necessary for coming matches,” said Yaqoob, who is accompanying the team in Myanmar.

“This performance is a a result of two-year untiring effort put in by PVF when the services of Iranian coach Hamid Movahedi were hired and a training camp of youth and junior players was initially established at Peshawar,” Yaqoob said.

“The camp was then shifted to Islamabad. This year the training camp of under-23 boys was held at Islamabad in early May under Korean coach Kim whose services were hired by PVF through its meagre resources,” Yaqoob said. He also appreciated the support of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). “The PSB, under the ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC), fully cooperated with the PVF and established these training camps which helped us groom young players,” said Yaqoob, also vice-president of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA).

In the other quarter-final India conquered Australia 3-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. After losing the first set 16-25, India staged a stunning fight-back as they went on to sweep the next three sets 25-19, 25-21, 27-25.

Japan crushed Sri Lanka 25-21, 25-16, 25-14. Chinese Taipei defeated China 3-0 with the set scores of 26-24, 25-19, 25-20. The final will be held on Sunday (tomorrow).