LAHORE: Maintaining their winning streak, Pakistan outplayed Chinese Taipei 3-1 in a Super Eight match to raise their semi-final chances at the 15th Asian Men’s U-18 Volleyball Championship in Manama, Bahrain on Thursday.

After a flawless performance in the group stage, where they won all three matches, Pakistan were drawn into a challenging Super Eight group alongside Japan, Chinese Taipei and South Korea.

According to a press release issued by the Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF), Pakistan overcame a mid-game collapse to defeat Chinese Taipei 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 25-23 to move a step closer to securing a semi-final berth.

Mehd Ali Shah, Abubakr, Mohammad Yahya and Mohammad Anas were instrumental in Pakistan’s victory.

After taking the first set, Pakistan sought to take command, with a block by Yahya giving them set point at 24-16. But in a stunning turn of events, Chinese Taipei grabbed the next 10 points on the trot, and with a brilliant defensive stop by skipper Chiang Bing-Shiuan sealed their comeback to level the match at 1-1.

Chinese Taipei however could not build on their newfound momentum as Pakistan recovered right away. They took the third set convincingly before claiming the fourth to seal the contest.

Mehd supplied the match-clinching spike from the left wing. Yahya put in a class performance with 29 points to spearhead the winning team, while Shah added 15. Hu Jun-Xiang was Chinese Taipei’s leading man with 15, while Chiang contributed 10.

Pakistan with this win improved to five points on the pool ‘F’ standings while Chinese Taipei stayed on zero.

Pakistan’s in their next Super Eight match face a strong Japanese team on Friday.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2024