The first ever Asia Men’s Volleyball Challenge Cup which was held in Sri Lanka came to an end with Iraq clinching the Cup beating Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a thrilling five setter (17-25, 25-14, 25-16, 26-28, 15-23).
Saudis got off to a fine start to win the first set 25-17 making a strong challenge to Iraqis from the beginning of the set. Iraqis came back gallantly to take the second set at 25-14 to come on equal terms and posed a threat to their opponents. Iraqis never made mistakes during this set and became a real threa to Saudis.
Iraqis after winning the second set comfortably entered the court with high morale and went on to grab the third set also in an excellent manner 25-16 to go ahead of Saudis two sets to one.
Saudis had come out with an ideato control the Iraqis free scoring spree which they did well with their Spikers stretching the set to extra time and won the set at 28-26.
This resulted in the match going in for the full stretch of five sets to decide the winner.
The last and the final set was evenly contested by both teams who used all their experience and skills to come out as victors to carry away the coveted Cup. It was Iraqis who had an unblemished record and went on to win the set at 15-13 and the match.
The match played earlier for the third place between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh became a one sided game with the host nation defeating the visitors in straight sets to be the second runner up of the Tournament.
Lankans gained a comfortable victory in the first set baffling the visitors at 25 – 16 with our Spikers performing well with power packed shots against the opponent which they failed to counter set and take a 8-3 lead at the first break and continued it until they ended the set taking full control of the game. The large crowd present cheered our lads immensely with raising their morale.
Our players came for the third set hoping to finish the game as early as possible and got their act together from the word go for an early lead 8-4. They maintained this lead up to until the completion of the set25- 17.
This was the set that visitors were able get the highest score during these three sets.
Abdul Samad Husam who played a vital role during the tournament was declared as the Most Valuable Player while Sri Lanka’s Lakmal Wijesekera was selected as the Best Libero of the Tournament. Wasantha Lakmal of Sri Lanka was awarded the Best Outside Spiker Award.
The Chief guest on the final day was the Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya who gave away the Asia Men’s Volleyball Challenge Cup to the victorious Iraqi Team.
Be the first to comment