AVC Cup: Qatar top Pool C after 3-0 rout of Thailand

Doha/Taipei: Qatar retained their winning momentum at the 6th AVC Cup for Men with a three-set (25-23 25-23 25-16) victory against Thailand to secure the top spot in Pool C.

The convincing win also assures Qatar’s place in the quarter-finals of the tournament which is underway in Taipei, Chinese Taipei .

It was Qatar’s second consecutive win in the tournament, having defeated Vietnam in a similar manner on the opening day at the University of Taipei (Tianmu) Gymnasium.

Thailand were able to pose a certain amount of resistance to keep up with Qatar in the first two sets. However the Qataris, led by six feet and eight inches tall captain Mohamed Ibrahim, produced solid blocking and attacks against their East Asian counterparts in the third set to take the game.

“We are getting better day by day. We are happy that we win this game. In the third set, it seems like that Thais gave up this match,” Qatar’s head coach Soto Camilo said after their victory yesterday.

“Because team Qatar’s height takes advantage in blocking and serving, it was a tough game for us,” Thailand’s coach Monchai Supajirakul said.

The biggest contributors for the Qatari win yesterday were Renan Ribeiro and Mubarak Hammad who scored 18 points apiece.

Team Qatar now tops Pool C, while Thailand and Vietnam will compete against each other Friday afternoon for the second place of the pool.

Earlier, yesterday, the defending AVC champions, Iran downed Australia in a thrilling four-setter (25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 25-16) to secure their second consecutive win in Pool B.

Meanwhile, in Pool A, the Asian champions, Japan succumbed to their second loss in a row, this time against a strong and much more experienced Kazakhstan side. Khazakhstan beat the youthful Japanese team 3-1 (25-22 25-23 21-25 25-13) in a thriller.

The tournament sees top nine Asian teams in action and will conclude on August 15.