Volleyball wins for Chinese Taipei and Bahrain

Chinese Taipei and Bahrain both recorded their third successive victories in pool B of the preliminary round of the men's volleyball tournament at the Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall on Thursday. Chinese Taipei upset Thailand, 25-15, 25-13, 25-21 in men's volleyball preliminaries, at Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall.

Chinese Taipei took the advantage in the first set, their excellent blocking ensuring that Thailand unable to mount any counter attacks.

As the set progressed Chinese Taipei grew stronger, forcing Thailand to take a second time-out in the hope of turning the game around. The turnaround didn't come and Thailand were left to rue a host of missed chances.

Solid spiking by Chinese Taipei controlled the tempo in the second. Thailand failed to mount any sustained pressure on the scoreboard as Chinese Taipei's soaring blocks bossed the net; blocking pair Hung Jung Chung and Chou Tsung Hao were in commanding form converting 10 blocks to points.

Service errors by Chinese Taipei allowed Thailand to lead for the first time in the third, but a loss of composure at the net allowed spiker Hung Jung Chung to score freely. Two service aces from Thailand's Pongsakorn Nimawan threatened a late charge, but it never came and Chinese Taipei celebrated a memorable win.

Chinese Taipei now face a tricky top-of-the-table match with Bahrain as they attempt to qualify for the men's quarterfinals in premier position. Sophon Panulawan, coach of Thailand said, "We experienced playing against a team taller than us. In volleyball, it's very difficult to play against a taller team. We blocked, but their blocks were much higher."

Bahrain powered to a 25-17, 25-22, 25-22 win over Macau, China establishing their dominance from the beginning of the first set, where they had a five point lead by the first technical time-out.

Macau, China played faster spikes to steer clear of Bahrain's gigantic block, but it did not get them far and Bahrain maintained their strong play into the second set. Yunes Matrook's spike ended the set at 25-22. An inspiring effort from captain Too Chuen Ki gave Macau, China the lead at the first technical time-out of the third set.

Fuad Yaqoob's service paired with wing spiker Fadel Mohamed attacks failed to inspire their team and Macau, China led 16-11 at the second technical time-out. However, Bahrain's strong blocking hampered Macau, China's offence and they came back and took a three-point lead, eventually winning through Hasan Hasan at 25-22.

Afterwards, Bahrain's Serbian coach Aleksandar Senicic said, "I told my players that every game is very important. They must fight and continue with their good game."

Looking ahead, he added, "We must win the match against Chinese Taipei. We don't have a plan at the moment; tomorrow we will talk about our strategy. We have good service, we have good form and we have good health. Maybe they have good timing with the ball and have good training. Blocking is very hard in volleyball and they must have worked very hard for this."

By 15th Asian Games, Doha 2006