Pakistan set up SAG volleyball semi with BD

KARACHI: Pakistan on Saturday set up a date with Bangladesh in the semi-finals when they emerged as Group B winners after beating Sri Lanka 3-1 in their last group game of the volleyball event of the 13th South Asian Games being held in Kathmandu.

Despite the defeat, Sri Lanka have also qualified for the semi-finals as they had beaten Maldives in their opener. Sri Lanka will meet Group A winners India in the pre-final on Sunday (today).

Pakistan will face Group A runners-up Bangladesh in the semi-final also on Sunday.

Sri Lanka-Pakistan game was full of excitement as both sides made concerted efforts for a win right from the start.

Having beaten Kazakhstan in the Asian Championships in Iran recently, it was expected that Sri Lanka would put Pakistan in trouble.

And they did the same when they lifted the first set against Aimal Khan-led Pakistan 30-28 after a gruelling fight.

However, Pakistan, who have improved a lot during the last few years, re-grouped and levelled the game 1-1 by winning the second set 25-18.

Pakistan kept the same momentum and lifted the next two sets 25-20 and 25-21 to record a solid win.

Skipper Aimal Khan demonstrated great skills and scored maximum points through his power spiking to help Pakistan emerge victorious in style.

Pakistan, the other day, had defeated Maldives 3-0 to take a good start to the six-team event.

“If Pakistan play in the same way against Bangladesh in the semi-final tomorrow then I am sure we will win it comfortably,” a senior official of Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) told ‘The News’ on Saturday.

Pakistan have so far won two gold medals in the history of the South Asian Games in volleyball, having done so in 1993 in Dhaka and in 1989 in the Islamabad edition.

The Green-shirts have won six silver and two bronze medals. In the last SAG held in India in 2016, Pakistan had won bronze.