Japan beats Kazakhastan, Bahrain upsets Hong Kong, China
3/12/2006 12:16
Japan struggled with a 3-2 win against Kazakhstan in the women's
volleyball event at the Doha Asian Games yesterday, while Hong Kong, China, was
beaten by Bahrain 0-3 in the men's competition.
Rapidly-improving Kazakhstan,
who clinched the 2005 Asian Championship silver medal after upsetting Japan 3-2
in the semifinals, captured the first set 25-23, but produced several unforced
spiking and serving errors to go down in the following set 13-25.
The
Kazakhstan maintained their poise and came back strongly to win the third set
25-20, however, the enduring Japanese relied on their exceptional defence
against the rivals' fierce attack in the fourth set, pulling it back 25-22 and
forcing the match into a decisive fifth set.
The Japanese were in ascendancy
in the do-or-die tie-breaker, while the Kazakhstan players seemingly lost their
hearts. Kazakhstan's less concentration and courage cost them dear at the big
points as they went down 13-15.
Despite the loss, Shapran Vyacheslav,
Kazakhstan's head coach were satisfied with his players' performance.
"Luck
is not at our side this time, but it's nothing. We will make all out to go to
the final and we still have chance," he said.
In another Pool B match of the
women's volleyball on Saturday, Thailand beat Mongolia in straight sets, keeping
an unbeatable record in Pool B like Japan.
Nine teams are split into two
groups to battle for the women's volleyball championship, with China, South
Korea, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam playing in Group A and Kazakhstan, Japan,
Thailand, Tajikistan and Mongolia in Group B.
For the men's competition, Hong
Kong, China, who suffered a miserable 0-3 loss to the United Arab Emirates in
qualifying, was defeated by Bahrain 11-25, 15-25, 19-25.
Earlier in the day,
United Arab Emirates overshadowed Lebanon 3- 1, while Saudi Arabia gained a hard
3-2 win over arch rival Kuwait.
Ten men teams are competing for another two
seats of the quarterfinals with Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand and
Bahrain in Pool B, while India, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab
Emirates in Pool A. Only the top finisher of two groups qualified for the
quarterfinals.
Host Qatar has directly entered the last eight with five world
championship participants, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Iran and
Kazakhstan.
Xinhua
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