Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball : Pakistan crushed by China in opener

Lose 3-0 after hopes for late comeback were quashed.

KARACHI: Pakistan junior men’s volleyball team lost 3-0 to China in their opening match of the 2016 Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei yesterday.

The junior men in green lost the opening set 25-19 and the second 25-11. In the final set, Pakistan tried to stage a comeback but lost 25-18, with the combined margin of their loss being 75-48.

“It was not a bad game. We expected China to be a tough task since they have a very experienced coach. Our players got frustrated by the Chinese domination which cost them the match,” said junior team head coach Mazhar Hussain to The Express Tribune.



“We have a better plan for the next match against Iraq who have lost both their matches against China and Japan 3-0,” he said. “Our players are young and need to keep their focus on the ball even if the other team is leading.”

Meanwhile, in yesterday’s Pool A outings, Kazakhstan defeated Saudi Arabia 3-2 with scores of 20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 22-25 and 17-15. In another fixture of the same pool, Thailand defeated host Chinese Taipei 3-0 with 25-18, 25-13 and 25-21 being the set scores.

In Pool B fixtures, Turkmenistan beat Hong Kong 3-1 with set scores of 20-25, 25-18, 25-19 and 25-23, whereas Iran defeated Qatar 3-0 with 25-16, 25-15 and 25-11 being set scores.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2016.

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