Al Arabi Club booked their place in the best four of the SMM Asia Men’s Club Volleyball Championship with a 3-1 victory over Taiwan Power on Monday. At the Wunna Theikdi Hall in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, the Qatari team posted a 25-18 19-25 25-12 25-18 triumph in one hour and 26 minutes.
Leonardo Vissotto Neves had a rich haul of 21 points, including 20 off his 39 smashes. Uros Kovacevic secured 15, while Ahmed Bassam Diab got 10 for the winners. Huang Chien-feng was the best scorer for the Chinese Taipei team with 15. Wang Ming-chun was the second best, getting 12.
Al Arabi will clash with Japan’s Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza, who handed a 25-12 25-19 25-17 crushing to Myanmar, for a place in the final. The other semi-final features Bank Sarmayeh (Iran) and Shanghai Golden Age (China). The bank men posted a straight 25-18 25-16 25-18 victory over Maseco TPHCM (Vietnam), while the Chinese outfit were a 29-27 23-25 36-34 25-23 winner in a cliff-hanger against Altay VC from Kazakhstan.
Al Arabi faced a lapse in focus in the second set after clinching the opening one rather easily. After 3-3, Kovacevic, Thiago de Oliveira Guimaraes and Neves committed unforced errors and then an early push by Taiwan Power’s Chien-feng and Ming-chun put Al Arabi out of gears.
From a three-point lead, Taiwan Power increased the advantage to eight points at one stage before wrapping up the second and knotting the set scores.
This stung Al Arabi quite bitterly and they raised their all-round game few notches up immediately in the third. Off Renan Ribeiro’s services, Kovacevic and Neves produced good smashes and Al Arabi jumped to 4-0 lead. This was more than enough and the Qatari League winners went on to forge 20-8 ahead. Later Jorge Garcia Gonzalez set up the set point with a fine smash (24-11).
Taiwan Power could save a set point but off their service, Gonzalez managed a touch out to seal the set and put Al Arabi 2-1 up. The fourth set started off tightly with only one or two points separating the two. At 11-11, Al Arabi raced away to 15-11, Kovacevic fired two smashes, Chien-feng cracked the ball out and Guimaraes effected a block.
This proved a big boost for Al Arabi, who went on to control the proceedings from there and led 20-15 before Diab’s neat drop got them to the match-point. Ming-chun extended the Chinese Taipei team’s survival by a point. Guimaraes essayed another drop off a slightly out-of-position ball and Taiwan Power could not return it.
A pleased Al Arabi coach Maaouia Lajnef commented from Myanmar, “My team played a great game, especially in the reception and inside-out play. We had an efficient service, which allowed us to excel in block-defence counter-attack.
“The match was not easy at all. The opponents were good. We didn’t play tactically good in the second set. But by God’s grace, we were able to recover and come back into the match strongly.”
Talking about the Japanse rivals in the semi-finals, he said, “The Tuesday’s match is quite tough. Toyoda have a good professional player Igor Omrcen, along with many Japanese national team players. We will do our best and put in our everything to win the match,” said the coach.
Last year, 2012 winners Al Arabi had made it to their third final but lost to Taichung Bank from host nation Chinese Taipei.
Results (quarter-finals):
Sarmayeh Bank Tehran VC (Iran) 3–0 Maseco Tphcm (Vietnam) 25–18 25–16 25–18
Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan) 3–0 Myanmar (Myanmar) 25–12 25–19 25–17
Shanghai Golden Age China 3–1 Altay VC (Kazakhstan) 29–27 23–25 36–34 25–23
Al Arabi Club (Qatar) 3–1 Taiwan Power (Chinese Taipei) 25–18 19–25 25–12 25–18
Tuesday’s fixtures (semi-finals)
Sarmayeh Bank Tehran VC (Iran) vs Shanghai Golden Age (China)
Al Arabi Club (Qatar) vs Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan)
* Written by: Raajiv Tripathi – Qatar Tribune