VOLLEYBALL – The Philippines set up a mouth-watering clash with Iran last night in the semi-finals of the girls’ volleyball tournament in the third Asian Youth Games in Bahrain.
The crowd-favourite Filipinos punched their tickets to the final four with a hard-earned 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-16, 25-18) victory over Chinese Taipei in a packed Hall B at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
After splitting the first two sets, middle blocker Ysabella Patricia Cruz put the Philippines up 12-10 midway through the third, and then never looked back from there.
They scored eight of the next 10 points to go up 20-12, and a smash by Cruz eventually secured the frame and a two-sets-to-one advantage.
The Filipinos then rode their momentum into the fourth set, scoring the first five points. They continued to build on their advantage and went up by double-digits, 18-8, after their opponents misfired in attack.
Later, after a powerful smash by outside hitter Rhose Viane Almendralejo gave them match point, and setter Rihanna Cris Navarro delivered the knockout blow two rallies later.
Iran, meanwhile, secured their berth in the semis with a resounding 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-18) sweep of Hong Kong in another quarter-final yesterday.
The Filipinos and Iranians clash tonight at 7pm at the same venue.
Their game will be preceded by Thailand taking on Indonesia, who will battle for the other berth in the girls’ gold medal game, which is scheduled for Wednesday on the concluding day of volleyball events in this year’s Asian Youth Games.
The Thais breezed past Qatar 3-0 (25-5, 25-5, 25-8) yesterday to march through, while Indonesia outclassed China 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-20).
On the distaff, the boys’ semi-final pairings were also set last night. Gold medal favourites Iran face off with Thailand, while Pakistan will take on Indonesia.
The Iranians overcame a battling Mongolia 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-12, 25-15), while the Thais cruised past Saudi Arabia 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-19).
Pakistan were 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-17) victors in their quarter-final yesterday, while the Indonesians triumphed 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-18) against Uzbekistan.
Along with today’s semi-finals, classification matches in the fifth-through-eighth brackets for both girls and boys will also be held.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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