Iran will take on Korea in the title clash of the 19th Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship in Bahrain.
Iran secured their berth in the final after beating an inspired Thailand 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 15-25, 25-14) in a hotly contested game that saw them lose their first set in five matches since the start of the competition. The Koreans then booked their seats following a well-deserved 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) triumph against underdogs Iraq.
Both games were played at Isa Sports City in Riffa, where the final will be played today.
By setting up their winner-take-all meeting, Iran and Korea lived up to their billing as the two top-ranked teams in the tournament. Both nations were regarded to be amongst the strongest heading into play, and they did not disappoint as they had also entered the knockout stages as first and second seeds, respectively.
Also following their victories, both Iran and Korea secured their qualification for the 2019 FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship as the representatives of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC). Only the top two teams from this tournament would earn berths in the worlds.
Today’s gold medal game is scheduled for a 7pm start. It is a re-match of their preliminary round meeting from last week, which was taken comfortably by the Iranians.
Elsewhere yesterday, Bahrain were also victorious on the penultimate evening of the championship. They battled back from a set down to defeat Turkmenistan 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-8) in one of several classification contests.
In other matches, Macau beat the Maldives, Taipei defeated Kazakhstan, China beat Australia, India overcame Saudi Arabia, Japan swept past Pakistan, and New Zealand overcame a tough challenge from Jordan in a five-setter.
Iran opened their semi-final against Thailand as the early aggressors, taking the first two sets with ease. But the tables were turned in the third set, and the Thais were able to achieve something no other team could do in Iran’s previous four matches – they managed to take a set. But Thailand’s cheers were short-lived as Iran took back control in the fourth and closed things out decisively.
Morteza Sharifi was the best scorer for Iran with 24 points, including 22 on attack. Porya Yali added 21, while team captain Amirhossein Esfandiar had an impressive seven aces. Assanaphan Chantajorn paced Thailand with 15 points in defeat.
Meanwhile, Korea surprisingly made easy work of Iraq, who the previous night had just posted one of the biggest upsets of the tournament with a quarter-final victory against defending champions China. There would be no repeat success, however, for the Iraqis, as their Korean counterparts took control early and never wavered.
The reward for Korea’s efforts: a chance to avenge their earlier defeat to Iran and an opportunity to add to their record six titles in this competition. Iran have five championships.
Donghyeok Im scored 23 points overall to lead the Koreans in their win. Lim added 10 in attack while also registering an impressive four aces in the game. Ali Sahib Abushanan scored 16 to lead Iraq.
In Bahrain’s win against Turkmenistan, Hasan Abbas was the best scorer for the hosts with 16, 13 of which were on attack. Kuvat Moshyev and Seyitgeldiyev both paced Turkmenistan with 10 points apiece.
The Bahrainis now play one last game against Sri Lanka today for ninth place overall. The game is scheduled for a 5.30pm start.