Asian Club Championship 2011

Indonesia, July 23-31, 2011

Participating teams (12 teams)
Kazakhstan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Iran, China, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Qatar, Japan

Seeding will be in accordance with the ranking of previous Asian Club Volleyball Championship in 2010:
A
Indonesia (org)
Japan (3rd)
China (4th)
Afghanistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam

B
Iran (1st)
Qatar (2nd)
Kazakhstan (5th)
Turkmenistan
Thailand
Myanmar

Unfortunately I don't know

Only the top four teams from each pool will advance to the next round at the conclusion of the pool round-robin preliminaries on July 27, while the remaining two teams from each pool will be pitted in the 9th-12th classification round.

The scoring system has also been changed this time around, with teams winning 3-1 and 3-0 bagging three points and the losers collecting zero points. However, if the match ends 3-2, the winners will claim two points, while the losers get one.

Among the 12 participating teams, Paykan, the Iranian professional volleyball team based in Tehran and owned by Iran Khodro, an Iranian automobile manufacturer, have been regarded as the hot favourites. They have already won six Asian crowns including five in a row since the tournament’s inception in 1999 in Hefei, China.

The other strong contenders Qatari Al Rayyan SC and Sakai Blazers, the team based in Sakai city in Osaka, Japan. Aside from clinching 15 titles in the Japanese Volleyball League as well as the Volleyball Premier League, Sakai Blazers have also claimed 14 victories in the Kurowashiki All-Japan Volleyball Championship.

Expected to mount strong challenges against Iran’s Paykan and Japan’s Sakai Blazers are Tang Dynasty from China, Thailand’s Chang Club and hosts Indonesia’s Bank Sumsel Babel.

Meanwhile, the final inspection at the competition venue took place on Friday and the control committee, chaired by Yim Hyung Bin, found that everything meet the standards required.

Match schedule Saturday, July 23, 2010
Pool round-robin preliminaries
Pool A
10.50am-12pm: Bank Sumsel Babel (Indonesia) v PTSC (Vietnam)
2pm-4pm: Tang Dynasty (China) v Etisalat (Afghanistan)
6pm-8pm: Sakai Blazers (Japan) v Uzbektelecom (Uzbekistan)

Pool B
12pm-2pm: Paykan (Iran) v Al Rayyan SC (Qatar)
4pm-6pm: Almaty (Kazakhstan) v Asia World Club (Myanmar)
8pm-10pm: Chang (Thailand) v Turkmenistan (Turkmenistan)

Asian Men’s Club Championship kicks off in thrilling start
Reigning champions Paykan of Iran opened up their title defence with three points from a dramatic 3-1 win over Qatar’s Al Rayyan SC in a hard-fought thriller in the pool round-robin preliminaries of the 2011 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship on Saturday.

Also winning on the first day of the eight-day competition at the Palembang Sport and Convention Center Gymnasium were Indonesia’s Bank Sumsel Babel, Tang Dynasty of China, Kazakhstan’s Almaty, Chang from Thailand and Japan’s Sakai Blazers.

Twelve teams are participating in the tournament and they are divided into two pools for the preliminary round.

Having won the Asian Club Championship six times – including the last five – and having strengthened their lineup with five hard-hitting spikers from the team that finished third at last year’s World Club Volleyball Championship, the invincible Paykan pulled off a 3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 17-25, 25-17) victory over Al Rayyan SC in Pool B.

Despite a determined fightback from the Qatari side – who fielded high-profile players from three nationalities, including Serbian Konstantin Cupkovic – the formidable Paykan were impossible to crack in a thrilling battle.

Hamzeh Zarini emerged as Paykan’s top scorer after collecting 18 points, including 16 kills from 31 attempts, with Konstantin Cupkovic bagging 20 points for Al Rayyan SC.

“All the participating teams want to book the lone berth in the World Men’s Club Championship and undoubtedly they are trying their best in every match they play,” said Paykan coach Akbar Peyman. “Many teams, such as those from Kazakhstan, Thailand and Indonesia, fielded all national-team players in this championship to enhance their chances here, while teams absent from the Asian meet for a long time, like Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, are back. They all have the same ultimate target of winning the title and representing Asia in the World Club meet.”

Qatari coach Mohamed Bahri was disappointed with his team’s loss. “We came to win not to get disappointed by the loss,” he stated. “This is a sport in which there has to be a winner and loser. However, going down in our first match to Paykan is understandable. Paykan are very strong with a high standard of playing, while we suffered on receiving. We still have more time to think about the next couple of matches and learn what our prospects are in this championship.”

Also tasting victory in their opening Pool B match were Kazakhstan’s Almaty, following their convincing 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) win over Asia World Club of Myanmar. Almaty fielded the tournament’s tallest player in Anton Yudin, who stands 210 cm and weighs 97 kg. Their smaller rivals attempted hard to pierce Almaty’s solid blocks but to no avail. Yudin scored the most points for Almaty (14), while Asia World Club’s Aung Thu had 15 points.

Thailand’s Chang Club also cleared their first hurdle in Pool B after thrashing Turkmenistan in straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-16). Spiking machine Jirayu Raksakaew top-scored with 22 points, including 18 deadly spikes for the Thai team. Batyr Soyunov had 13 points for Turkmenistan.

In Pool A, Indonesia’s Bank Sumsel Babel, fielding players who are preparing for the upcoming 26th South East Asian Games on home soil, struggled hard to beat Vietnam’s PTSC in a hard-fought five-set thriller (25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-11). Agung Seganti handed the Indonesian side 24 points including 13 kills and five stuff blocks, while Khanh Le Quang also bagged 24 points for PTSC.

“I am glad that we eventually won this tough match,” said Dadang Sudrajat, assistant coach of the Indonesian team. “We played well in the first set but could not maintain our good form in the second set. From then, we had to learn from what we had been doing wrong.”

China’s powerful Tang Dynasty had the easiest task of the day as they crushed underdogs Etisalat from Afghanistan 3-0 (25-7, 25-13, 25-15) in a 54-minute match. Yang Jianbin collected 16 points for the Chinese team, with Baryalai Yousufi scoring nine points for Etisalat.

Japan’s Sakai Blazers, fielding only 10 players in the annual competition, were pushed to the limit by Uzbekistan’s Uzbektelecom, but counter-attacked well to beat their in-form rivals 3-0 (25-16, 28-26, 25-22).

Day one results:

Pool A
Bank Sumsel Babel (INA) bt. PTSC (VIE) 3-2 (25-23 18-25 21-25 25-20 15-11)
Tang Dynasty (CHN) bt Etisalat (AFG) 3-0 (25-7 25-13 25-15)
Sakai Blazers (JPN) bt. Uzbektelecom (UZB) 3-0 (25-16 28-26 25-22)

Pool B
Paykan (IRI) bt. Al Rayyan (QAT) 3-1 (25-19 25-13 17-25 25-17)
Almaty (KAZ) bt. Asia World Club (MYA) 3-0 (25-20 25-17 25-20)
Chang (THA) bt. Turkmenistan (TKM) 3-0 (25-20 25-22 25-16)
FIVB

Sakai Blazers rally to topple Tang Dynasty in AVC Men’s Club Champs
Japanese club Sakai Blazers clinched a vital win over China’s Tang Dynasty coming from behind while Paykan of Iran continued their unbeaten streak at the 2011 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Palenbang, Indonesia on Sunday.

The winners of the tournament will earn a place at the 2011 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship in Qatar later this year.

The Osaka-based Sakai Blazers, who have landed 15 titles in the Japanese V Premier League and an additional 14 honours in the All-Japan Championship, came out in full force in their clash against Tang Dynasty, with powerful Takeshi Kitajima and Nishio Daisaku unleashing a barrage of devastating spikes. However, the Chinese side, fielding several young talents who competed at the last year’s Asian Junior Men’s Championship in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, bounced back with lightning cross-court spikes and powerful jump serves to take the first set 25-21.

The Japanese were not willing to give up easily. They upped the tempo, hitting spectacular cross-court spikes and producing scintillating blocks to capture the next two-sets 25-18 and 25-19. Sakai Blazers lost their touch in the fourth set, as they went down 21-25 but the decider saw the side take a commanding 14-10 lead before Tang Dynasty regrouped to save three successive match-points. Nishio Daisaku came along at the right time to end the Chinese challenge with a deadly mid-court spike.

Nishio highlighted the match with 22 points including 18 kills for Sakai Blazers, while Shen Qiong bagged 20 points for Tang Dynasty.

With win over their Chinese counterparts, Sakai Blazers now lead the Pool A with five points after their opening 3-0 win over Uzbekistan’s Uzbektelecom.

Also undefeated after two matches are hosts Indonesia’s Bank Sumsel Babel as they have five points from two wins including a 3-2 triumph over Vietnam’s PTSC in the curtain-raiser on Saturday.

Bank Sumsel Babel, who fielded all national players, lived up to head coach Li Qiujiang’s expectation. A large crowd of 2,000 local enthusiasts turned out at the Palembang Sport and Convention Center Gymnasium to give the home side the morale support.

Backed by adoring supporters with nerve-wracking cheers, Bank Sumsel Babel from Indonesia came back with much greater form this time. It was a different script written the previous day when they were pushed to the limit by PTSC.

The Indonesian team performed well on Sunday as the current SEA Games champions saw off their Uzbekistan rivals in comfortable straight sets 25-21 25-18 25-17.

“Thanks to the full support of home fans, my players performed much better than the previous match against PTSC. Our next match against Tang Dynasty of China must be a daunting task, but we will try our best. We just concentrate on our game. I’m glad we beat Uzbektelecom and hope that my players will improve their level after playing stronger teams here,” Indonesia’s assistant coach Dadang Sudrajat commented in the press conference.

The other Pool A tussle saw Vietnam’s PTSC in devastating form to brush off inexperienced Afghanistan’s Etisalat in easy straight sets 25-12 25-18 25-10 in just 55 minutes.

Meanwhile, in Pool B, powerhouses Paykan methodically crushed Turkmenistan’s Talyp Sport in straight sets 25-15, 25-15, 25-22 to remain unbeaten. After winning the first set effortlessly, the Iranian side rested their best players including powerful hitter Zarni Hamzeh and instead fielded substitutions in the next two sets.

However, Paykan are expected to face an uphill task on Monday against the tall and towering Kazakhstan’s Almaty, which have a height average of 189cm. Almaty, who finished second to Paykan in the 2008 edition on home soil, used their height advantage to overcome the smaller Thai blockers with spectacular spikes and well-placed serves. As they outclassed Thailand’s Chang in straight sets 25-14, 25-20, 25-23.

Qatar’s Al Rayyan SC, suffering a bitter 3-1 loss at the hands of Paykan in their opening match the previous day, faced off against Myanmar’s Asia World Club. After a terrific 25-19 win in the first set, Al Rayyan SC, which fielded three national players including Serbian Konstantin Cupkovic, went down to the lower ranked rivals 27-29 in the second set. They cruised their ways to sweep the remaining two sets 25-18 and 25-20 .

The pool round-robin preliminaries of the top-flight competition continue on Monday, with Uzbektelecom facing PTSC, Etisalat challenging Sakai Blazers and Tang Dynasty playing hosts Sumsel Babel in Pool A.

In Pool B, Turkmenistan’s Talyp Sport go up against Al Rayyan SC, Asia World Club take on Chang in the all-Aseans battle and Paykan play Almaty in a clash of Titans.

Sunday’s results:

Pool A
Bank Sumsel Babel (INA) bt Uzbektelecom (UZB) 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17)
Sakai Blazers (JPN) bt. Tang Dynasty (CHN) 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 15-13)
PTSC (VIE) bt. Etisalat (AFG) 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-10)

Pool B
Al Rayyan SC (QAT) bt. Asia World Club (MYA) 3-1 (25-19, 27-29, 25-18, 25-20)
Paykan (IRI) bt. Talyp Sport (TKM) 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-22)
Almaty (KAZ) bt. Chang (THA) 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-23)
FIVB

Quote from Justyna

Day one results:

Pool A
Bank Sumsel Babel (INA) bt. PTSC (VIE) 3-2 (25-23 18-25 21-25 25-20 15-11)
Tang Dynasty (CHN) bt Etisalat (AFG) 3-0 (25-7 25-13 25-15)
Sakai Blazers (JPN) bt. Uzbektelecom (UZB) 3-0 (25-16 28-26 25-22)

Pool B
Paykan (IRI) bt. Al Rayyan (QAT) 3-1 (25-19 25-13 17-25 25-17)
Almaty (KAZ) bt. Asia World Club (MYA) 3-0 (25-20 25-17 25-20)
Chang (THA) bt. Turkmenistan (TKM) 3-0 (25-20 25-22 25-16)
FIVB

Display More

Statistics
INA-VIE
CHN-AFG
JPN-UZB

IRI-QAT
KAZ-MYA
THA-TKM

Quote from Justyna

Sunday’s results:

Pool A
Bank Sumsel Babel (INA) bt Uzbektelecom (UZB) 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17)
Sakai Blazers (JPN) bt. Tang Dynasty (CHN) 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 15-13)
PTSC (VIE) bt. Etisalat (AFG) 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-10)

Pool B
Al Rayyan SC (QAT) bt. Asia World Club (MYA) 3-1 (25-19, 27-29, 25-18, 25-20)
Paykan (IRI) bt. Talyp Sport (TKM) 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-22)
Almaty (KAZ) bt. Chang (THA) 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-23)

Display More

Statistics
INA-UZB
CHN-JPN
VIE-AFG

QAT-MYA
IRI-TKM
KAZ-THA

Paykan, Sakai Blazers unbeaten at Asian Men’s Club Championship
Fired-up Paykan of Iran handed Almaty their first loss at the 2011 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship, blitzing the Kazakh side in a hotly-contested four-set battle in Pool B in Palembang, Indonesia on Monday.

In what was a rematch of the 2008 final in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where Paykan captured their fourth title on their rivals’ soil, the Kazakh team attempted to match the incredible might of the Asian volleyball powerhouses Iranians. However, Paykan were just too strong. They stole the show to take the first set 25-22, thanks largely to Hamzeh Zarni’s exceptional spikes and solid blocking by Hesam Bakhsheshi and Arash Sadeghiyanny.

Almaty regained their composure to produce a good second set, which they narrowly edged 26-24. Fielding more individual talents, Paykan roared back with powerful jump serves, thundering cross-court spikes and excellent combinations which effectively baffled the opposition. The muscular Iranians wrapped up the following two sets with a similar margin 25-18, 25-18 for the eventual 3-1 victory in a thrilling match.

Hamzeh Zarni bagged 23 points for Paykan including 19 kills and two well-placed serves, while Nariman Suleimenov collected 20 points for Almaty.

Thailand’s Chang made their mark in their third Pool B match against rivals Asia World Club by pulling off a convincing straight-sets (25-14, 25-22, 25-19) victory over their Myanmar counterparts.

Chang, who got off to a winning start over Turkmenistan’s Talyp Sport on Saturday, but suffered a loss to Almaty the following day, had their sights firmly set on beating Asia World Club to ensure their bright prospect of making it to the final eight teams.

Things seemed to live up to Chang’s initial expectation when two wins in Pool B carried them to the quarter-finals for sure. Talyp Sport of Turkmenistan and Asia World Club are yet to win a single match and are the only two teams in the pool likely to fail to make the cut for the final eight.

“My players did a good job in the match against Asia World Club, the team from Myanmar expected to take on us again in the South East Asian Games here in November,” Thai coach Monchai Supajirakul said after the match. Playing the team from the Asean region is not that tough as we faced the much stronger teams in the Asian Club Championship here. So, I told my players to do their best, refraining from making mistakes.”

“Although our initial target of advancing to the quarter-finals has already been accomplished, we still have two more tough matches to play, one against Qatar’s Al Rayyan SC and another one against Paykan,” he added. “If possible, I would like my team to finish third in Pool B so that we can take on the team finishing third in Pool A which is not too tough for us.

Earlier, Qatar’s Al Rayyan SC had little problem seeing off Turkmenistan’s Talyp Sport in straight sets (25-18, 25-16, 25-14) in 67 minutes. Qatari Mory Sidibe scored 21 points in the match.

In Pool A, a large crowd of more than 3,000 spectators cheered home Bank Sumsel Babel in their mighty clash against the aggressive Tang Dynasty from China. However, the fans left with their heads low in when their team succumbed to a straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-18 ) loss to the much stronger Chinese club.

“It’s great to win today because it’s a crucial match,” Tang Dynasty coach Wang Jiang We said. “We are playing Indonesia, of which numerous fans are cheering them continuously. Although their shouting and singing partly affected our performances, we tried to play cool under pressure. Fortunately, our determination worked out pretty well.”

The other Pool A match saw Uzbektelecom from Uzbekistan mount a strong challenge against PTSC, but found the well-established Vietnamese side too strong to go down 3-0 (25-15, 34-32, 25-18 ).

Unbeaten Sakai Blazers made it three wins in a row in the eight-day tournament after methodically crushing the error-prone Etisalat of Afghanistan in a lop-sided encounter (25-10 25-19 25-6) in 57 minutes.

The pool round-robin preliminaries continue on Wednesday. Only the top four teams from each pool will make the cut for the quarterfinals, with the remaining two sides from each pool contesting the 9th-12th classification round.

Only the eventual winners in this tournament will represent Asia at the 2011 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Doha, Qatar from October 8 to 14.

Monday’s results of the pool round-robin preliminaries

Pool A
PTSC (Vietnam) b Uzbektelecom (Uzbekistan) 3-0 (25-15 34-32 25-18 )
Sakai Blazers (Japan) b Etisalat (Afghanistan) 3-0 (25-10 25-19 25-6)
Tang Dynasty (China) b Bank Sumsel Babel (Indonesia) 3-0 (25-22 25-20 25-18 )

Pool B
Al Rayyan SC (Qatar) b Talyp Sport(Turkmenistan) 3-0 (25-18 25-16 25-14)
Chang (Thailand) b Asia World Club (Myanmar) 3-0 (25-14 25-22 25-19)
Paykan (Iran) b Almaty (Kazakhstan) 3-1 (25-22 24-26 25-18 25-18 )
FIVB

Quote from Justyna

Monday’s results of the pool round-robin preliminaries

Pool A
PTSC (Vietnam) b Uzbektelecom (Uzbekistan) 3-0 (25-15 34-32 25-18 )
Sakai Blazers (Japan) b Etisalat (Afghanistan) 3-0 (25-10 25-19 25-6)
Tang Dynasty (China) b Bank Sumsel Babel (Indonesia) 3-0 (25-22 25-20 25-18 )

Pool B
Al Rayyan SC (Qatar) b Talyp Sport(Turkmenistan) 3-0 (25-18 25-16 25-14)
Chang (Thailand) b Asia World Club (Myanmar) 3-0 (25-14 25-22 25-19)
Paykan (Iran) b Almaty (Kazakhstan) 3-1 (25-22 24-26 25-18 25-18 )

Display More

Statistics
UZB-VIE
AFG-JPN
INA-CHN

TKM-QAT
MYA-THA
IRI-KAZ

PTSC stun Blazers as Asian Club champs moves on
Teams from South-East Asia flexed their muscles against stronger sides in the 2011 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship on Tuesday as PTSC stunned Sakai Blazers and Chang shocked Qatari Al Rayyan as qualification for the 2011 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship continued.

The winner of the tournament will book their place at the tournament in Doha, Qatar later this year.

In a splendid display somewhere near their best, PTSC stopped the unbeaten run of Japan’s Sakai Blazers with a remarkable performance.

The 25-23 win over the Japanese in the opening set gave PTSC a big boost and from then, they went all-out and played every part of the game magnificently. Though going down in the second set 22-25, the Vietnamese took the third set 25-23, lost the fourth 17-25 but won the decider 16-14.

Chang also wrote a similar script in their match as they ground out a thrilling five-set win over Al Rayyan. Though the determined Thais went down to the hefty Qataris on Tuesday, they received a boost from Indonesian fans and duly delivered with a gutsy display.

Despite the loss to the Qataris, Chang have already booked their quarter-final berth due to the better match ratio than Turkmenistan’s Talyp Sport and Myanmar’s Asia World Club, both of whom are yet to win a match in Pool B.

Chang, fielding all national players whose team performed superbly to finish fourth at the last year’s Guangzhou-hosted Asian Games and the third place at the recent Asia Pacific Cup in Fukuoka, Japan, lost the first two sets, but clawed their way back to take the next two sets, thanks largely to the talented Jirayu Raksakaew’s spectacular spikes and powerful jump serves from Wanchai Tabwises.

However, Thai hopes evaporated in the decider as Al Rayyan, who fielded high-profiled spikers including Serbian Konstantin Cupkovic, used their height and experience to win the crucial set 15-11 and with it the match.

The hard-attacking Jirayu Raksakaew scored a high of 33 points including 30 explosive spikes for Chang, while Cupkovic collected 25 points for Al Rayyan.

After the match, Thai coach Monchai Supajirakul expressed his satisfaction over his team’s impressive performance.

“We played well up to our standard,” he said. “The Qataris are strongly-built and much taller than us. To attack them effectively is not an easy thing. We then decided to send the 200cm-tall Yamin Traore to maximize our blocking capacity. He did a good job. Despite the loss, I’m happy with my team’s improved form.”

“We take on Iran’s Paykan next, defending and five-time consecutive champions,” Supajurakul added. “They are very strong and we might need a miracle to beat them in straight sets to make sure we finish third in Pool B. If not, we have to finish fourth in the pool and will take on Pool A’s champions China’s Tang Dynasty, one of the strongest teams with the fully-fledged players, instead.”

Meanwhile Indonesia’s Bank Sumsel Babel pounded Afghanistan’s Etisalat in straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-16) to the delight of over 3,000 spectators.

Despite suffering four losses in a row, Etisalat coach Yousuf Sadeq is happy that his team have a chance to learn from other sides.

“It’s the first time we are taking part in the Asian Men’s Club meet,” he said. “Every match we have played is our new experience. We learn from the other teams. We are happy although we have yet won a single match here. To contest the Asian Men’s Club here is our new thing and it’s always the most difficult to start a new thing we have never known its future. I think we have learned many things and will bring them with us when return.”

Myanmar’s Asia World Club briefly mounted a strong challenge against defending champions and 2011 Club World Championship bronze medallists Paykan of Iran. Their explosive spikes caught their Iranian counterparts flat-footed several times before the powerfully-built Iranians stormed back to clinch the three-set battle (25-21, 25-20, 25-17).

China’s Tang Dynasty continued their remarkable form to sweep past Uzbekistan’s Uzbektelecom in comfortable straight sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-16) as Kazakhstan’s Almaty survived an epic 78-point first-set from Turkmenistan’s Talyp Sport to snatch a 3-0 (40-38, 25-14, 25-13) win.

All participating teams will have their final match in the pool round-robin preliminaries on Wednesday before they will be classified in their own groups. The top four teams from each group will advance to play in the quarterfinals, with the remaining two teams contesting the 9th-12th classification round.

Tuesday’s results of the pool round-robin preliminaries

Pool A
PTSC (Vietnam) b Sakai Blazers (Japan) 3-2 (25-23 22-25 25-23 17-25 16-14)
Tang Dynasty (China) b Uzbektelecom (Uzbekistan) 3-0 (25-19 25-18 25-16)
Bank Sumsel Babel (Indonesia) b Etisalat (Afghanistan) 3-0 (25-19 25-15 25-16)

Pool B
Al Rayyan SC (Qatar) b Chang (Thailand) 3-2 (25-18 28-26 24-26 20-25 15-11)
Akmaty (Kazakhstan) b (Talyp Sport) Turkmenistan 3-0 (40-38 25-14 25-13)
Paykan (Iran) b Asia World Club (Myanmar) 3-0 (25-21 25-20 25-17)
FIVB

Quote from Justyna

Tuesday’s results of the pool round-robin preliminaries

Pool A
PTSC (Vietnam) b Sakai Blazers (Japan) 3-2 (25-23 22-25 25-23 17-25 16-14)
Tang Dynasty (China) b Uzbektelecom (Uzbekistan) 3-0 (25-19 25-18 25-16)
Bank Sumsel Babel (Indonesia) b Etisalat (Afghanistan) 3-0 (25-19 25-15 25-16)

Pool B
Al Rayyan SC (Qatar) b Chang (Thailand) 3-2 (25-18 28-26 24-26 20-25 15-11)
Akmaty (Kazakhstan) b (Talyp Sport) Turkmenistan 3-0 (40-38 25-14 25-13)
Paykan (Iran) b Asia World Club (Myanmar) 3-0 (25-21 25-20 25-17)

Display More

VIE-JPN
UZB-CHN
AFG-INA

QAT-THA
TKM-KAZ
MYA-IRI

and results of the last preliminary round
Pool A
Tang Dynasty (China) b PTSC (Vietnam) 3-2 (22-25 16-25 29-27 25-22 15-13)
Sakai Blazers (Japan) b Bank Sumsel Babel (Indonesia) 3-0 (25-21 25-23 25-22)
Uzbektelecom (Uzbekistan) b Etisalat (Afghanistan) 3-0 (25-18 28-26 25-17)

Pool B
Almaty (Kazakhstan) b Al Rayyan (Qatar) 3-0 (25-22 25-23 25-20)
Paykan (Iran) b Chang (Thailand) 3-0 (25-18 25-19 25-18 )
Asia World Club (Myanmar) b Talyp Sport (Turkmenistan) 3-2 (21-25 25-14 23-25 25-21 15-10)

Paykan remain unbeaten at Asian Club Championship
Fired-up Paykan of Iran became the only team to remain unbeaten run at the end of the pool round-robin preliminaries of the 2011 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Palembang, Indonesia on Wednesday as they saw off Chang of Thailand.

The top Asian clubs are battling it out for a spot at the 2011 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Doha, Qatar in October.

Also tasting victory in the final match of the preliminaries were Kazakhstan’s Almaty, China’s Tang Dynasty, Japan’s Sakai Blazers, Myanmar’s Asia World Club and Uzbekistan’s Uzbektelecom.

The powerfully-built Paykan, reigning and five-time champions, overwhelmed Chang with their incredible attacking ability, lightning-fast spikes and solid blocking to brush aside their Thai counterparts in straight sets (25-18, 25-19, 25-18 ).

After the match, Thai coach Monchai Supajirakul admitted that despite the loss, he was satisfied with his team’s performance.

“I just wanted to rest our best players for the next match against either China or Japan,” Monchai said. “That match will be more important than this because we have already booked the quarter-final ticket. There, we have to play our best. For us, we have nowhere to go but up and hope for the best.”

“Paykan are the strongest team in this tournament,” he added. “They have every quality sufficient to win the title. Their serves and spikes are very powerful, while their teamwork is excellent and blocking is just impassable. However, I’m upbeat that we still have chances of advancing to the semi-finals if we maintain our top form and try to make the least possible mistakes.”

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s PTSC almost became giant-killers for the second time as they took the first two sets against China’s Tang Dynasty 25-22, 25-16.

They came whisker of winning the third set and the match after taking a 24-22 lead, only to produce an erratic serve which cost them. Tang Dynastic caught their rivals at 27-27 and played consistently to win the thrilling set 29-27. From then on, the Chinese never looked back, taking the remaining two sets 25-22 and 15-13 and the tiring battle.

“In the first two sets, we could not catch up with the pace set by Vietnam, but we played more consistently in the next two sets,” Tang coach Wang Jiang said. “We tried to maintain our concentration and score point by point to take the fifth set. Until now, it’s rather difficult to say that we can win the championship. We have to improve on many mistakes. However, I hope my players will do their best in the remaining matches.”

The other closely-contested encounter between Kazakhstan’s Almaty and Qatar’s Al Rayyan SC saw the tall and towering Kazakhs survive a sturdy challenge from the aggressive Qataris to brush them aside in straight sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-20).

Indonesia’s Bank Sumsel Babel played in front of more than 3,500 spectators packing the Palembang Sport and Convention Center Gymnasium, but still failed to make their mark in a daunting match against Japan’s Sakai Blazers, going down in straight sets (25-21, 25-23, 25-22).

In the clash of the four winless teams in the eight-day tournament, Uzbektelecom of Uzbekistan and Myanmar’s Asia World Club eventually broke the jinx on Wednesday, with the former outclassing Afghanistan’s Etisalat in straight sets (25-18, 28-26, 25-17) and the latter struggling to beat Turkmenistan’s Talyp Sport in a gruelling five sets (21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 15-10).

At the end of the pool round-robin preliminaries on Wednesday, Sakai Blazers emerged as winners in Pool A, claiming 12 points as Tang Dynasty came second with four wins against one loss.

PTSC bagged 10 points from three wins against two losses to come third while Bank Sumsel Babel collected eight points from a similar performance - three wins against two losses, to finish fourth. Uzbektelecom and Etisalat finished fifth and sixth respectively.

In Pool B, undefeated Paykan have yet to lose a single match in the tournament and top the pool as expected, claiming the full 15 points from five wins. Almaty finished second with 12 points from four wins against one loss. Al Rayyan collected eight points from three wins against two losses to finish third.

Chang bagged seven points from two wins against three losses to finish fourth in the pool, with Asia World Club and Taylp Sport in fifth and sixth positions with two and one point respectively.

On Thursday, Uzbektelecom take on Talyp Sport and Asia World Club play Etisalat in the 9th-12th classification round. The 1st-8th quarterfinals see Sakai Blazers challenge Chang, Tang Dynasty face Al Rayyan, Paykan take on Bank Sumsel Babel and PTSC go up against Almaty.
FIVB

Statistics
CHN-VIE
JPN-INA
UZB-AFG

KAZ-QAT
THA-IRI
TKM-MYA

Clubs from Iran, Japan, China, Kazakhstan reach Asian Club semis
Defending champions Paykan silenced the nerve-wracking cheers of the Indonesian crowd with their explosive power and strength, brushing off Bank Sumsel Babel as the Iranian club stormed into the semifinals of the 2011 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Palembang on Thursday alongside China’s Tang Dynasty, Japan’s Sakai Blazers and Kazakhstan’s Almaty.

The eventual winners of the tournament will travel to Doha, Qatar in October to take part in the 2011 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship.

Before the start of the day’s first match, the Palembang Sport and Convention Center Gymnasium, where the eight-day competition is being held, was thoroughly checked ahead of the arrival of the President of the Republic of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the afternoon.

Security was very tight, with armed policemen and armoured tanks guarding the gymnasium. Everyone entering the competing venue would be properly checked and scanned.

The venue was packed to its seating capacity as the President arrived in the gymnasium to watch the whole match between Indonesia’s Bank Sumsel Babel and Paykan. An estimated 4,000 spectators inside the venue shouted and danced, some hitting drums and blowing horns.

The in-form Paykan started encouragingly, with Hamzeh Zarini puncturing the host side’s defence with his spectacular cross-court spikes and powerful jump serves which went unanswered. The visitors clinched the first two sets 25-14, 25-18.

Backed by the noisy home crowds, Bank Sumsel Babel held their nerve to hit back as they caught up with Paykan to clinch a nail-biting third set 27-25.

However, the formidable Iranians exploited their speed and power to blunt the hosts’ determined attacks. Bank Sumsel Babel again levelled at 23-23, but the tough visitors never looked back to win the remaining two points to wrap up the set 25-23 and the thrilling clash.

Shalkohi Bazargarde was the top scorer of the match with 20 points for Paykan, while captain Andri Andri collected 19 points for the hosts.

“This Indonesian team played very well,” Paykan coach Peyman Akbari said. “It’s an honour to see the President of the Republic of Indonesia watch us play in the match against the hosts. This also gave the home side a big boost. We next take on China’s Tang Dynasty in the semifinal encounter. The Chinese are also strong with excellent teamwork. However, I’m upbeat we can beat them and we expect a 3-1 win in that match.”

Tang Dynasty showed their class on Thursday as they took on the high-profiled Al Rayyan SC from Qatar. Surprisingly, the encounter resulted in a comfortable win task for the side as they sealed a straight sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-9) win.

Dai Qingyao was the backbone of Tang Dynasty as he bagged 23 points including 16 kills for the Chinese, with Konstantin Cupkovic scoring 12 points for the Qataris.

The other semifinal clash on Friday sees Kazakhstan’s Almaty challenge Sakai Blazers from Japan. The tall and towering Almaty struggled through their match against the spirited PTSC of Vietnam, seeing off the side in an unconvincing manner in straight sets (27-25, 25-18, 25-21).

The Japanese team produced a magnificent come-from-behind win to see off Thailand’s Chang (20-25, 25-21 25-22, 25-20). Nishio Daisaku collected a crucial 20 points for Sakai Blazers, while Chang’s fist-pumping Jirayu Raksakaew became the day’s top scorer of all matches as he bagged 29 points including 26 devastating spikes for the Thai team.

“It was as if we played our best in just the first set and let the win slip through fingers too easily,” said Chang coach Monchai Supajirakul. “I admit that my players could not control their game. They lost concentration. Our setter Saranchit Charoensuk, who still suffers from the palm injury, chased for the ball till he felt pain on his knees and we decided to replace him.”

“We next take on Vietnam, which is never easy for us,” he added. “Vietnam came back much stronger this year. They beat Japan and almost beat China in three sets. We cannot underestimate them anymore. However, if we can finish the fifth or sixth place in this championship, it remains our initial target as last year, we also finished sixth. If we return with the better fifth place, that means we improve our standard.”

As for the 9th-12th classification round among the lower-ranked teams, Turkmenistan’s Talyp Sport stunned Uzbektelecom from Uzbekistan in a closely-contested match 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 23-25, 16-14) to book a clash with Myanmar’s Asia World Club for ninth.

Meanwhile the Myanmar club showed no mercy to Afghanistan’s Etisalat crushing their inexperienced rivals in straight sets (25-17, 25-17, 25-16). Etisalat will challenge Uzbektelecom in the 11th-place play-off on Friday.

9th-12th classification round
Talyp Sport (Turkmenistan) b Uzbektelecom (Uzbekistan) 3-2 (25-21 23-25 25-16 23-25 16-14)
Asia World Club (Myanmar) b Etisalat (Afghanistan) 3-0 (25-17 25-17 25-16)

Quarter-finals
Sakai Blazers (Japan) b Chang (Thailand) 3-1 (20-25 25-21 25-22 25-20)
Paykan (Iran) b Bank Sumsel Babel (Indonesia) 3-1 (25-14 25-18 25-27 25-23)
Tang Dynasty (China) b Al Rayyan (Qatar) 3-0 (25-20 25-23 25-9)
Almaty (Kazakhstan) b PTSC (Vietnam) 3-0 (27-25 25-18 25-21)
FIVB

Quarterfinals - statistics:
JPN-THA
IRI-INA
CHN-QAT
KAZ-VIE