TOP FOUR CONFIRMED IN 2021 ASIAN MENS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP IN THAILAND
The highly-anticipated semifinals are set for the 2021 Asian Mens Club Volleyball Championship at Terminal 21 Hall on Thursday, with home favourites Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC going up against Sirjan Foulad Iranian and Al-Arabi Sports Club challenging Burevestnik Almaty to vie for the top honour and the lone berth for the FIVB Mens Club World Championship later this year.
On Tuesday, the final day of the pool round-robin preliminaries of the topflight competition, reigning and six-time Thailand League winners Nakhon Ratchasima, 2012 Asian Club champions Al-Arabi Sports Club, Kazakhstan's Burevestnik Almaty, and the Iran's Premier League champions Sirjan Foulad Iranian all pulled out their scintillating wins against their respective rivals and ensured their eligibility in the do-or-die semifinals.
Burevestnik Almaty topped Pool A with 10 points, with Nakhon Ratchasima and South Gas Club from Iraq in second and third places with 8 and 7 points respectively. The afore-mentioned three teams had the similar performances with three wins against one loss. Karza Sport Club from Kuwait and winless CEB Sports Club from Sri Lanka finished 4th and 5th with 5 points and no point respectively.
Sirjan Foulad Iranian dominated Pool B with 12 points from four straight wins, followed by Al-Arabi Sports Club with 9 points from 3 wins against one loss. Thailand's Diamond Food came in third place with 4 points from 2 wins against 2 losses, while AGMK of Uzbekistan and winless Rebisco Philippines finished 4th and 5th places with 4 points and one point respectively.
All participating teams gave all-out in their last-ditch efforts of winning their last matches contested in the pool plays on Tuesday.
Related Stories
Powerful left-hander Amorntep Konhan methodically tore the Sri Lankan defence into shreds with his exceptional attacks as Nakhon Ratchasima swept CEB Sports Club in comfortable straight sets 25-21, 25-20, 25-13.
"We planned to win this match in 3-0 or 3-1 to guarantee our presence in the semifinals. The Sri Lankan team are developing a lot recently. Thanks to my players' determination, we eventually won today's match. They have done a good job," said Nakhon Ratchasima head coach Padejsuk Vannachote.
"I have analyzed the Iranian styles and prepared my team to fight with the taller and tougher rivals and we need to be in our top form to play them. I think it will be a challenging game for both teams," he added, regarding the first encounter in the semifinals on Thursday.
Nakhon Ratchasima captain Wanchai Tabwises said, "Our team did well today. In the next match against Sirjan Foulad Iranian, we need to be in our top form since they are so aggressive offensively and defensively."
Earlier, in-form Burevestnik Almaty demolished Kazma Sport Club in convincing straight sets 25-17, 25-20, 25-22.
Veteran Vitaliy Vorivodin scored a match-high 15 points for the Kazakh side, while Abdulrahman Almutawa topsored with 15 points for Kazma Sport Club.
Sergey Rezanov, one of the Burevestnik Almaty's key players, said after the match, "We knew how important this match is for us. I am happy that we won and made it to the semifinals. We lost 2-3 to South Gas Club, but won all the other matches in straight sets."
Meanwhile, Sirjan Foulad Iranian survived Diamond Food's huge scare to win an action-packed, four-setter 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23. Shahrooz Homayonfarmanesh scored a team-high 19 points and team-mates Serbian Aleksandar Blagojevic and Mahdi Jelveh added 17 and 12 points respectively to the team's tally. Kantapat Koonme topscored with 25 points including 21 attacks from 42 attempts on the Thais' losing effort.
In this match, Sirjan Foulad Iranian head coach Saeid Rezaei, assured of his team's semifinal berth, gave rest to the best player Saber Kazemi and allowed more chances to the bench players against Diamond Food.
Sirjan Foulad Iranian made a clean sweep in Pool B as expected, while Diamond Food, which did not make the cut for the semifinals, are relegated to classification for 5th-8th places. Diamond Food, third place in Pool B, will take on Pool A fourth-placed Kazma Sport Club on Thursday.
Diamond Food head coach Somboon Nakpung said, "Even if Sirjan used their bench players, their performance is still great. My team players had their best performance, but Sirjan are so strong to beat. I think, it is a valuable experience for our team to play at this level and I am glad we came this far for the first time in the Asian Club Championship."
Diamond Food captain Kittikun Sri-utthawong said, "Sirjan had a very solid game and aggressive in both attacks and blocks with fewer errors. I think my team did well and never gave up until the end. They gained a lot of experience playing with a tough team today."
Sirjan head coach Saeid Rezaei said, "The semi-final match is definitely a game of life and death, and we will definitely go against the opponents with all our might."
Regarding the game against Diamond Food, he said: "This game was a good opportunity to use the players who we did not use in the previous matches, so that they are at the appropriate level of preparation and, if necessary, help the team in the remaining two matches."
In the final Pool B match of the day, Al-Arabi Sports Club still lived up to their expectation following a brilliant 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-12) win against Uzbekistan's AGMK.
Brazilian Felipe Bandero chipped in with 16 points for Al-Arabi Sports Club, while Bunyod Egamkulov led AGMK with 13 attacks and one solid block.
Al-Arabi SC from Qatar had won the 2012 Asian Club title to their name aside from picking up silver in 2010, 2015 and 2016 and bronze in 2007, 2009 and 2017, their last appearance in Vietnam, where they beat Kazakhstan's Altay in the third-place playoff.
Rebisco Philippine and CEB Sports Club, teams finishing fifth places in each pool are relegated to 9th-10th classification and are set to battle it out on Wednesday when remaining teams will have a rest day, ready for the resumption of the semifinals and 5th-8th playoffs the following day.
