
China began their campaign with a victory over Chinese Taipei in Pool A |
Uruomieh, Iran, August 2, 2010 - Powerhouses Australia, China, Korea and hosts Iran outclassed their respective rivals to pick up their first wins on the opening day of the second Asian Men's Cup Volleyball Championship in Uruomieh, Iran on Sunday.
China trounced Chinese Taipei in straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-14) while and Iran defeated India 3-2 (25-15,25-17,23-25,23-25,15-10) in Pool A. In Pool B, Australia downed Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21) while Korea edged Japan 3-2 (25-18, 23-25,25-17,21-25,17-15).
Participating in the event are the top eight finishers from the 2009 Asia Championship in Manila, Philippines, however Indonesia withdrew from the cup event at the last moment being replaced by India.
Pool A World no. 10 China proved their class to begin their campaign with a victory over Chinese Taipei. The victors used their height and power advantage to see off the side with China’s Guo Peng the star player of the match.
Elsewhere defending champions Iran saw off India in a tight match.
The taller defensive players of India, led by Gurinder Singh, staged a comeback after going down 2-0 early on. They performed intelligent Volleyball, forcing the match into the tiebreaker where the Iranians, with support from 6,000 shouting fans, renewed their offence to narrowly see out the win.
Pool B Australia pulled off a relative easy victory over world no. 25 Kazakhstan in the tournament’s opening match. From the beginning Australia performed strong and powerful spikes. However, despite Kazakhstan’s defense creaking, they tried to fight back in the second and third set and leveled the scores several times. However their spikers could not get through the Australia block.
“We have brought new and young players to our team, so they need experience and harmony with each other,” the Kazakhstan coach said. “In the near future they will be better in international games.”
“On the whole our team is good, we have a good team, every player has good condition of readiness for the coming games,” Russel Borgeaud, Australian coach said. “Organization is good. Uroumieh has suitable condition for hosting this championship.”
Last year’s runners-up Korea also recorded a win over arch rival Japan.
Both teams showed good Volleyball skills and to entertain the audience. Players from both sides put on a display that included fast services, good blocks and sharp spikes. However the Korean players performed were just ahead of their counterparts and eventually ground out the win.
On Monday, China will meet India and Iran play Chinese Taipei in Pool A while Japan take on Kazakhstan and Korea meet Australia.
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