Pakistan go down fighting against Iran;India,Turkmenistan also win

Iran dented Pakistan’s title aspirations with a hard-fought victory over the host Nation as India and Turkmenistan also posted wins over their respective rivals on the third day of Asian Central Zone Volleyball Championship at Liaquat Gymnasium, Pakistan Sports Complex, on Thursday.

Pakistan fought with determination against Iran for as long as 95 minutes before the visitors recorded victory by 25-22, 27-25 and 29-27.

India, another strong team in the seven-Nation, single-league tournament, beat Sri Lanka 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 while Turkmenistan disposed of Maldives 25-18, 25-22, 26-24.

Pakistan, having already beaten Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan, will now need to win at least two of their remaining three matches to be played in as many days.

Pakistan play India on Saturday, lowly Maldives on Sunday and defending champions Kazakhastan on Monday—the last day of the championship.  The green-shirts will have a rest day on Friday.

In the match against Iran, Pakistan led 8-6 at the first technical time-out before Iranians fought back to level the first game at 12-12. Pakistan again led 20-17 but then the visitors got five consecutive points to lead by 23-21 and eventually won the first game.

The second game was even more fiercely fought as Pakistan came from behind to square the score at 11-11 and then at 13-13 before Iranians wrapped up the second game by taking advantage of some unforced errors of Pakistanis.

Pakistani spikers Naseer Ahmed, Ismail Khan and Kashif Mansoor tried hard even in the third game as they saved three match points before the Iranians cashed in on their rivals’ crucial mistakes to win not only the game but also the match.

Chairman Pakistan Volleyball Federation Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqoob was the chief quest of Pak-Iran match while managing Director Green Valley Housing Scheme Rana Muhammad Arshad announced Rs. One Million for Pakistan Volleyball Federation.

Friday’s Fixture: Maldives Vs Sri Lanka (10:00 a.m.), Iran Vs Turkmenistan (3:00 p.m.) and Kazakhstan Vs India (5:00 p.m.).