Qatar mounted a pulsating rally and stunned mighty South Korea 3-2 in the opening Group A match of the FIVB World Championship Qualifications in Ardabil, Iran on Thursday.
Qatar, coached by Italian Massimiliano Giaccardi, made a few errors in the opening set and then were trailing by two sets down. However, after tweaking their tactics and Raimi Wadidie firing on all cylinders, Al Annabi bounced back and went on to complete a stunning 21-25 15-25 25-21 25-18 15-13 victory over four-time Asia champions at the 6000-seat Rezazadeh Stadium.
In another match, China posted a 25-15, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23 victory over Kazakhstan.
Qatar coach Giaccardi was extremely pleased with the stirring triumph by his boys.”Bravo...all the guys. After two sets, we adjusted something tactically and it paid off. So happy with the victory today.”
He also added,”We had chances to seal the opening set. We wasted two or three opportunities and it allowed the Koreans to win the set and go up.
“The loss of the second set was also fall-out of the bad first one. However, all the guys gave their best. Otherwise, you can’t win such matches. We have another tough game on Friday and hope to do our best again,” added the Italian.
Korean coach Kim Hochul said,”We did what we had to but the match was tough.”
The qualifiers are a one-round tournament, with the first and second in the group qualifying for the World Cup finals in Italy and Bulgaria in the summer of 2018.
In the first set, the Chinese took an early 8-5 lead and never let go as they increasingly widened the gap after a monster spike by Jiang Chuan. The Kazakhs, who made seven mistakes, threw caution to the wind as they attempted to claw back into the match but they were simply outclassed as China sealed the first set 25-15.
It was more of the same in the second set, once again with China commanding the proceedings. Lozano’s men fought tooth and nail to remain on top. Kazakhstan did their best to narrow down the gap and they successfully did it, though they lost the set 25-21.
Kazakhstan showed improvement in the third set and made the Chinese battle for each point. However Kazakhstan grabbed the set at 22. But China entered the court with a different attitude and Lozano’s five substitutions helped the team keep pressure on the opponents and finish the fourth set 25-23.
