Papemaguette Diagne collected 18 points and led Qatar to an exciting 3-1 victory over Venezuela in a Pool D encounter of the FIVB World League Group 3 in Tallinn, Estonia on Sunday.
Diagne pulled off 14 smashes and three blocks in his fine individual performance, which inspired four other players to come up with double-digit scores.
Qatar lost the opening set but came back strongly to lead 2-1 after clinching the marathon third set at 45-43 in 49 minutes. Venezuela appeared to have fallen apart after that and lost 29-27 16-25 43-45 13-25 in two hours and six minutes.
Belal Abunabot chipped in 17, including four blocks, Nikola Vasic’s 16 had 15 spikes, Ilija Ivoic netted 13 and Ahmed Noamen got 10. Qatar’s block was exceptional which got them a massive 21-9 edge. This was their second win in the pool and helped them rise to overall sixth in the Group 3.
The top three of the Group 3 will go to Mexico to feature in the Final Four contest next week. Germany and Estonia have qualified while the third one will be decided among Austria, Spain and Tunisia.
In Linz, Austria, Simon Hirsch spear-headed Germany to an impressive 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-17) win against Mexico as the top team in the group standings, to a spot at the Group 3 Final Four.
Despite playing only in the first two sets, Hirsch was the best scorer for his team with 13 points, topped only by Mexico’s Nestor Orellana with 16.
Hosts Estonia had fallen 1-2 behind but staged a pulsating return to seal a 3-2 triumph over Greece. The 13-25 25-21 25-22 17-25 11-15 loss meant Greece, who were runners-up in the group last year, had lost all the six matches this season.
Results Pool D
Rnk Teams P W L Pts
1 ESTONIA 3 3 0 8
2 QATAR 3 2 1 6
3 VENEZUELA3 1 2 3
4 GREECE 3 0 3 1
Group 3 Standings
Rnk Teams P W L Pts
1 GERMANY 6 5 1 15
2 ESTONIA 6 5 1 13
3 AUSTRIA 5 4 1 11
4 SPAIN 5 4 1 11
5 TUNISIA 5 3 2 9
6 QATAR 6 3 3 9
7 MONTENEGRO 5 3 2 8
8 CHINESE TAIPEI 6 2 4 8
9 MEXICO 6 2 4 8
10 VENEZUELA6 2 4 6
11 KAZAKHSTAN 6 1 5 3
12 GREECE 6 0 6 1