Al Rayyan Club added the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship bronze medal to their cupboards as they handed a 3-0 blowout to Chennai Spartans of India in the third place playoff on Friday.
At the University of Taipei (Tianmu) Gymnasium, the Qatari team faced a tricky situation. They were a bit downcast after having come so close to their third final but lost the five-set thriller to Japan’s Panasonic Panthers. And their next opponents in the hardline match were the same outfit who had stunned them in a pool round-robin match earlier.
However, Al Rayyan Club, the reigning double Arab club champions and twice runners-up in successive appearances (2013 & 2014), lifted both their game and spirit and vented out their anger with a 25–23 25–19 25–16 triumph.
Shahrdari Varamin continued Iran’s domination, though they staged a dramatic comeback from 0-2 down to pull off a gritty 20-25 16-25 25-22 25-20 16-14 triumph. This was the 13th overall title and a fourth consecutive final for an Iranian club.
After the sweet revenge, Al Rayyan Club coach Carlos Schwanke commented, “Every time we are on the court, we want more, but in our loss to Panthers in the semi-finals, we fought to the last points. In the fifth set we needed to attack a little more against the Japan team.
“I think we need some more experience. We need these kind of championships to gain more experience. I think the third position in one big tournament like this is not that bad. Actually, we came here with just one mission – we try to do our best every time. So, the best today is we took the victory and got the third place,” the Brazilian tactician added.
For a Qatari club, this was the 10th medal in the championship. Earlier, Al Arabi Club won the title in 2012, besides securing three silver and as many bronze medals.
Al-Rayyan remained offensively strong with the likes of the 206-cm tall and powerful hitter Kamil Rychlicki from Luxembourg, Brazilian Marcus Costa and Birama Faye, while the Indians were strengthened by Latvian Sorokins Ruslans, hard-attacking Vinith Jerome and Raja Naveen.
Both sides got off to a thrilling start and were on the heels of each other. GS Akhin and Jerome produced solid blocks to help Chennai level 19-19, but after that the Qataris roared back with sharp hits and powerful jump serves by Rychlicki to win the hard-fought set 25-23.
Chennai Spartans still found the rivals a tough nut to crack in the second set. The Qataris took a narrow 17-15 lead and stretched it to 24-19, courtesy of their consistent play and exceptional tactics including terrific jump serves and attacks from Rychlicki. With scintillating blocks by Youssef Oughlaf and Birama Faye, Al Rayyan clinched the set 25-19 to forge 2-0 ahead.
The third set turned out to be one-way traffic as Rychlicki and Costa joined forces in penetrating the Indian defence with their spectacular smashes for the team’s 23-14 lead. Al Rayyan allowed the rivals two more points before capturing the set 25-16, the match and the bronze medal.
Kamil Rychlicki led Al Rayyan with 20 points, including 17 kills and team-leading two blocks, while Vinith Jerome was the lone Indian player who scored in double digits – 10 points – for Chennai Spartans. It included eight spikes from 18 attempts.
Results
Final
Panasonic Panthers (Japan) lost to Shahrdari Varamin (Iran) 25–20 25–16 22–25 20–25 14–16
3rd place
Al Rayyan (Qatar) beat Chennai Spartans (India) 25–23 25–19 25–16
5th place
Taichung Bank (Chinese Taipei) lost to Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Sri Lanka) 16–25 25–2024–2625–199–15
7th place
Queensland Pirates (Australia) lost to TP.HCM (Vietnam) 25–22 22–25 24–26 25–21 11–15
Final standings
RankTeam
1. Shahrdari Varamin (Iran)
2. Panasonic Panthers (Japan)
3. Al Rayyan Club (Qatar)
4. Chennai Spartans (India)
5. Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Sri Lanka)
6. Taichung Bank (Chinese Taipei)
7. TP.HCM (Vietnam)
8. Queensland Pirates (Australia)
9. Polri Samator (Indonesia)
10. Est Cola (Thailand)
11. TNC Kazchrome (Kazakhstan)
12. Galkan (Turkmenistan)
13. Dragon (Hong Kong)
14. Club Singapore (Singapore)