Pakistan go down against Chinese Taipei

KARACHI: Pakistan made a disappointing start when they went 1-3 down to Chinese Taipei in their Group E opener of the 19th Asian Men’s Under-20 Volleyball Championship at the Isa Sports City in Riffa, Bahrain, on Sunday.

Pakistan’s juniors failed to live up to the billing, allowing their rivals to record an easy win in the 24-team event, which serves as qualifiers for the next year’s World Under-21 Championship.

The set score remained 25-17, 25-15, 14-25 and 25-18.Pakistan will face Saudi Arabia in their next game on Monday (today).Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) chairman Chaudhry Yaqoob told ‘The News’ that he was told by coach Hamid Movahedi that injuries to a couple of key players hurt Pakistan. “The coach told me that two of our leading players received injuries in the practice matches,” Yaqoob said.

He said that Chinese Taipei is a good team which has been prepared well over eight years. However, he was hopeful that the team will perform better against Saudi Arabia. “I am confident we will do better against Saudi Arabia today,” said Yaqoob.