Pakistan off to poor start in Asian U-20 Volleyball

KARACHI: Pakistan were off to 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, leaving their rivals to record an easy win in the 24-team event which also 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 Mohammad Yaqoob told The News that he was told by Pakistan’s coach Hamid Movahedi that injuries to a couple of key players went against Pakistan. “The coach told me that two of our leading players received injuries in the practice matches which hurt the team’s winning chances,” Yaqoob said. He said that Chinese Taipei was a good team which had been prepared after a long eight years of struggle.

However he was hopeful that his team would perform better against Saudi Arabia.“I am confident we will perform better against Saudi Arabia today,” said Yaqoob.