Asian men’s volleyball championship: India’s winless streak continues with loss to Japan.
September 15, 2021
India’s winless streak in the Asian men’s volleyball championship continued when hosts Japan, ranked 10 in the world and nine-time champions posted a resounding 25-15, 25-15, 25-18 win in straight games in their third and final Pool A match at Chiba Port Arena in Japan on Tuesday.
Japan, three-time winners Iran, Australia who lifted the title once, Chinese Taipei, Qatar, Pakistan, China who won thrice and four-time champions South Korea qualified for the knockout stages.
Fort the hosts Japan captain Ishikawa Yuki led the scoring with 18 points while Miyaura Kento (17) and Otsuka Tatsuno (12) also chipped in and for India, ranked 77th in the world, captain Karthik Ashok (9), Subham Chaudhary (7) and Ashwin Raj Mahesh (6) were the best scorers.
India were eight in the last edition in 2019 and will now have to play the classification rounds for a place in the ninth to 16 position.
The Covid-19 pandemic hampered the preparation of India for the prestigious championship and will find it difficult to participate in the 2022 Asiad.
