Pakistan maintain winning run, Turkmenistan upset Iran

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan maintained their winning run defeating Turkmenistan 3-1 in a gruelling encounter during the Central Asian Volley­ball League here at the Liaquat Gymnasium of the Pakistan Sports Complex on Monday.

Earlier, Kyrgyzstan pulled off a huge upset as they outclassed top-ranked Iranian side 3-0.

Pakistan edged Turkme­nistan 25-23 in the first set but the visiting team immediately boun­ced back 25-21 to level the score.

Both the teams showed great determination in the following sets but Pakistan were slightly better as they narrowly clinched the third set 26-24 to retook the lead.

The fourth set which proved to be more competitive with both teams playing with full aggression and refused to go down. But in the end Pakistan prevailed 27-25 in the draining encounter to record their third consecutive victory.

The national team outplayed Afghanistan in their opening match and followed it with a triumph against Sri Lanka.

In the day’s other fixture, Kyrgyzstan had a fine outing as they beat Iran’s second-tier side 27-25, 25-23, 25-19.

Iran’s main players are participating in another league in Brazil.

In Monday’s opening match, Sri Lanka bounced back from their defeat against Pakistan on Sunday as they routed Afghanistan 25-19, 25-20, 25-14.

With their brilliant showing in the competition, Pakis­tan are touted as favourites to clinch the title as their main rivals Iran fielded a depleted side while Turk­menistan also succumbed to a loss on Saturday.