Qatar players celebrate on the podium after winning the Asian Men’s Volleyball Challenge Cup title, yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: Qatar clinched maiden Asian Men’s Volleyball Challenge Cup title, blanking Pakistan 3-0 in the final in Isa Town, Bahrain yesterday.
The title win secured Qatar’s berth in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Challenger Cup set to take place in China next month.
In yesterday’s final, Pakistan’s biggest resistance against Qatar came in the first set which was stretched to 30 minutes. Pakistan, managed to threaten Qatar by leveling the scores on multiple occasions until Al Annabi broke away from a tie at 20-20 to seal the first-set win at 25-22.
Qatar maintained their momentum in the second set despite Pakistan’s resistance which was not as strong as it was in the first. Qatar eventually secured a 25-20 victory in the second set before sealing their triumph with a 25-19 score in the third, completing a straight-set triumph in one hour and 30 minutes.
Despite an early hiccup against South Korea in the group stage, Qatar’s journey at the Asian Challenge Cup was marked by strong performances. They reached the final after overcoming Kazakhstan 3-1 in the semi-final after defeating China in the last-eight stage.
Earlier, Kazakhstan secured third place after they emerged victorious against South Korea 3-1 in a thrilling play-off.
Kazakhstan started strong, taking a 5:1 lead early on, but South Korea fought back to win the first set with a narrow margin of 27-25. However, Kazakhstan retaliated to win the second and third sets with identical scores of 25-19. The fourth set was the highlight of the match, featuring intense back-and-forth action before Kazakhstan eventually secured an emphatic 30-28 win to seal the game 3-1 in two hours and 12 minutes and book their place on the podium for a bronze medal.
On Saturday, the classification matches saw China finishing in fifth position after beating Vietnam, and Bahrain securing seventh place by defeating Australia. The championships also saw last year’s title winners Thailand finishing in ninth place, while the Philippines, Indonesia, and Chinese Taipei signed off in 10th, 11th, and 12th positions respectively.
Asian Men’s Volleyball Challenge Cup finals
2024: Qatar beat Pakistan 3-0
2023: Thailand beat Bahrain 3-0
2022: Kyrgyzstan beat Saudi Arabia 3-2
2020: Cancelled due to COVID-19
2018: Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 3-2
