Hosts UAE jolt title contenders Iran

Title contenders India and Iran received a wake-up call ahead of their clash in the 12^th Rashid International Volleyball Tournament scheduled for 8pm at Al Shabab Club Hall in Dubai on Sunday.

Four-time winners India scored a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Lebanon while Iran were jolted by hosts UAE who won the opening set before going down by a similar margin on Saturday night.

The six-team tournament also featuring Pakistan and Tunisia is organised by the UAE Volleyball Association under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council.

Tunisia won a humdinger of a battle against Pakistan 3-2 in the final match of the evening. Pakistan won the first set 25-19 before Tunisia rallied to win the next two 25-23 26-24. Pakistan won a tight fourth set 25-21 but Tunisia won the decisive set 15-7.

India won the opening set comfortably 25-18 but were made to sweat hard for victory in the remainder of the match after Lebanon drew level with a 25-22 win.

Lebanon’s spiker Jan Abeshadeed kept their hopes alive in the third as well with some powerful hits while India had difficulty unravelling the deceptive play of Georgian player Evanov Kendrov.

India trailed for much of the third set before securing the lead at 16-15 and surged ahead as Lebanon conceded some easy points. However, the battling Lebanese managed to save two set points before India took a 2-1 lead by winning the third 25-22.

The fourth set began in the same fashion with Lebanon holding the edge and led 16-11 at one stage with Alan Saadah making a major contribution in both attack and defence.

But India showed their fighting qualities to tie the scores at 19-all before closing out the set and match 25-23 after a bit of struggle caused by erratic services.

G. Pradeep was adjudged the player of the match for his deadly spikes while Gurinder Singh and Sube Singh played a key role in their victory with their blocks and placement in attack.

“In the three times we have played India, this is our best performance,” said Lebanon’s assistant coach Esam Abojaodah.

He admitted they could not counter the fast pace set by India. “We needed good setters to stop them. We had a chance to win but lacked focus at the end,” said Abojaodah.

He was nevertheless pleased with their performance as their main aim was the forthcoming Arab Volleyball Championships to be held in Cairo.

India’s coach G.E. Sridharan felt they played below par compared to the opener against Pakistan. “Our performance was not very good but OK. It was little down,” he said attributing their lack of recovery period between matches as one of the reasons.

Asked about their chances of winning the tournament, he said the tournament was open. “You cannot predict in volleyball. Anything can happen. Everybody has a chance of winning,” he said.

Like his Indian counterpart, Iran’s coach Akbari Payman was not too pleased with his side’s display against UAE who surprised them by winning the opening set 25-21. “I’m not satisfied because our players were complacent after winning their opener (against Tunisia) which is dangerous. I have to do something to motivate the players,” he said.

“Some players think this is an easy tournament which is wrong. It is a very hard and important tournament,” said Payman who lost his cool at times on the touchline.

Abdullah Ali Saif was the major contributor with his deadly spikes and effective blocks in the first set which they controlled after securing the lead 18-17. Mohammed Juma Marzook and left hander Rashid Ayoob also won crucial points to prevail over Iran.

Buoyed by this success, the hosts continued to hold the upper hand with Ayoob producing several winners while Marwan Obaid and Saeed Rabee also chipping in.

However, once Iran secured a 16-15 lead the tide turned in their favour with the hosts wilting under the renewed onslaught with Hamed Rezaie, Rahman Davoodi and Javad Mohammed Nejad spiking the opposition into submission.

After drawing level with a 25-18 victory Iran subdued the hosts in the next two sets 25-13 25-16 scoring almost at will against a team who were woefully out of position in defence and couldn’t get their serves in.

Iran’s Seyed Mehdi Bazargard was adjudged their most outstanding player for his central role in both attack and defence.

UAE coach Ahmed Zakaria was happy with their performance in the first two sets. “All our skills had improved. We defended and served better. But Iran controlled the match midway through the third set as we had a problem with the centre back,” he said.

“Iran is a side which can win 3-0 but we surprised them. With a little more effort we can do better,” he added.

4pm UAE v Tunisia

6pm Pakistan v Lebanon

8pm India v Iran