Former champions Al Arabi Club of Qatar headed the Group E and will clash with Taiwan Power of Chinese Taipei for a place in the semi-finals of the SMM Asia Men’s Club Volleyball Championship on Sunday.
In Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, Al Arabi Club, who were runners-up last year, crushed local team Myanmar in straight sets by 25-17 25-19 25-21 with Uros Kovacevic leading the attack.
His 18 points came off 15 superb spikes in 18 shots and three blocks. Thiago de Oliveira Guimaraes and Leandro Vissotto Neves contributed eight and seven in what turned out to be fifth victory in a row for Al Arabi.
Ahmed Diab excelled in the blocks and pulled off four stops. Besides, Guimaraes served two aces.
For Myanmar, Thu Aung was the best scorer, collecting 12 points off his smashes.
In other matches of the pool E and F, Shanghai Golden Age (China) defeated Maseco TPHCM from Vietnam 3-0, Japan’s Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza handed a 3-0 loss to Altay VC of Kazakhstan and Iran’s Ban Sarmayeh downed Taiwan Power 3-0.
In the other quarter-final clashes on Monday, Shanghai Golden Age are pitched against Altay VC, Myanmar will take on Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza and Maseco are to face Pool F toppers Bank Sarmayeh.
Al Arabi coach Maaouia Lajnef was delighted with as his team kept a clean slate and posted five wins in as many matches. Till now, Al Arabi have dropped just one set, the same as by Iran’s Bank Sarmayeh.
But Lajnef is taking every match seriously. He commented from Myanmar, “We’ve done really well till now, especially against the Chinese team Shanghai Golden Age. Now, the quarter-finals are due to start. All the matches are quite important and it won’t be easy for any team.
“We’ll focus hard on every match and try to do our best to reach the final once again.”
Talking about the quarter-final rivals, he said, “Taiwan Power are basically a new-look side. They have retained only player from the last year’s side. Despite this, they appear to be a strong outfit as their level is good, have good skills and like to play at a fast pace.
“We’ll have to concentrate on the match well on Monday and be ready to beat them. We’re also playing at a good level. Our team is definitely much stronger compared to the one last year. We have more players on the bench, which has given us a plenty of options. But I’d like to adde that we’re still missing Ibrahim.”
Middle player Mohammed Ibrahim has been part of Al Arabi for several years. He figured in the final last season as well. But due to injury, he could not travel with the team this time.
النتائج

1 to 8 place playoffs
Myanmar (Myanmar) 0–3 Al Arabi Club (Qatar) 17–25 19–25 21–25
Maseco TPHCM (Vietnam) 0–3 Shanghai Golden Age (China) 20–25 18–25 19–25
Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan) 3–0 Altay VC (Kazakhstan) 25–20 25–18 25–20
Taiwan Power (Chinese Taipei) 0–3 Bank Sarmayeh (Iran) 21–25 24–26 20–25
Standings

Pool E
Rank Team MW ML PTS SW SL SR PW PL PR
1Al Arabi Club (Qatat) 3 0 9 9 1 9.000 244 199 1.226
2 Shanghai Golden Age (China) 2 1 6 7 4 1.750 254 233 1.090
3 Myanmar (Myanmar) 1 2 3 4 6 0.667 214 233 0.918
4 Maseco TPHCM (Vietnam) 0 3 0 0 9 0.000 176 225 0.782
Pool F
1 Bank Sarmayeh (Iran) 3 0 9 9 2 4.500 272 232 1.172
2 Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan) 1 2 4 6 6 1.000 263 268 0.981
3 Altay VC (Kazakhstan) 1 2 3 4 6 0.667 218 226 0.965
4 Taiwan Power (Chinese Taipei) 2 1 5 6 5 1.200 230 257 0.895