Wapda create history in Asian Club Volleyball

KARACHI: Wapda on Monday created history when they came from behind to defeat Vietnam’s Sanset Khanh Hoa 3-2 to finish with the bronze medal in the AVC 2018 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium Hall in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. After losing the first set 19-25, the Pakistan’s champions came back strongly, lifting the second set 25-21 to make it 1-1.

Vietnamese however regained composure in the third set thanks to tremendous power spiking and won it 25-16 to once again take 2-1 lead.Wapda then bounced back when they grabbed a 25-20 win in the fourth set to level it 2-2.

In the fifth set a gruelling fight was witnessed before eventually Wapda clinching it 18-16 to finish at the third place.In the entire event Wapda lost only one game out of five they played. It was only on Sunday when they tasted a 2-3 defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan’s Atyrau in the semi-final.

Wapda, earlier, defeated Japan’s Toray Arrows, China’s Sichuan, Myanmar’s Asia World Club and Turkmenistan’s Binagar Club.Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) chairman Ch Yaqoob was happy with Wapda’s achievement.

“It was a historic win from Wapda on debut when they got bronze medal,” Yaqoob told The News after the match.“The event gave an opportunity to our top players to play against the best teams of Asia and this will help them in the Asian Games,” Yaqoob said.It is pertinent to mention here that most of the players in Wapda team also play in Pakistan senior team.