Unbeaten Egypt spike Iran in Rashid volleyball

Egypt held off a spirited challenge from regional powerhouse Iran to maintain their unbeaten run with a 3-0 (25-22 25-20 25-21) victory on the penultimate day of the 13th Rashid International Volleyball Tournament held at Al Shabab Hall in Dubai on Tuesday.

The African champions are virtually assured of the title barring an unlikely loss to Pakistan in their final league match on Wednesday when the curtain comes down on the six-nation tournament organised by the UAE Volleyball Association under the patronage of the Dubai Sports Council.

China beat hosts UAE 3-0 (25-17 25-21 25-15) while Australia outplayed Pakistan 3-0 (25-11 25-18 25-23) in the earlier matches.

Australia and China are likely to battle for the runner-up spot at 4pm on Wednesday while UAE take on Iran at 6pm followed by the Egypt-Pakistan clash.

Spurred on by a brilliant individual performance by southpaw Ahmed Salaheldin, the Egyptian spikers lived up to their no. 14 world ranking and brought the roof down in a thrilling encounter. 

Defending champions Iran suffered their defeat of the competition after having brought a development. But the young players displayed tenacity and abundant skills to lead 8-7 in the first two sets.

But the experienced Egyptian side preparing for the African championships to be held in Morocco later this month, wrested back the initiative on both occasions.

If the first set was evenly contested, the second produced long exciting rallies with the Egyptian duo of Mohamed Abdelmonem and Abdellatif Osman being a tower of strength in defence to deny Iran.

Saleh Fathy who was successful with 11 spikes out of 16 attempts was adjudged the Best Player of the match.

It was Salaheldin who wreaked havoc particularly in the final set which Egypt won convincingly despite Iran saving three match points.

Salaheldin’s remarkable tally of 21 points included a powerful service winner as he staked his claim to become the player of the tournament.

Mojtaba Shaban with 11 points was the top scorer for Iran while Alireza Jalali and Saman Faezi also made useful contributions.

UAE produced an improved performance with Rashid Ayoob and Mohammed Shamel contributing nine points apiece but found the opposition too hot to handle and committed too many errors. Abdullah Saif was successful with five spikes but won only two of 13 services.

Chen Ping was the matchwinner for China contributing 12 points all-round, including eight spikes while Zhong Weijun and Liang Chunlong also weighed to outwit the opposition with deceptive smashes and blocks.

Pakistan flattered to deceive by taking the lead in the first set 8-6. But Australia unraveled their fragile defence to romp to a 25-11 victory in the first set.

The second was more evenly contested but Pakistan were let down by poor services. They were also undone by the deadly spikes of Edgar Thomas, Yudin Igor and White Adam who was adjudged Best Player of the match to win the second 25-18.

However, the never-say-die Pakistan side fought point for point in the third after leading 8-5 only conceded the lead at 18-19.

After a ding-dong battle, Australia finally prevailed 25-23 to seal victory.

Rassol Mohib bounced back to form with the majority of seven spikes coming in in this set to lead their fightback.

Australia’s Argentine coach Jin Uriarte said they struggled a bit because he wanted to give court time to many players as possible with an eye on the Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship to be held in Iran later this month.

“In the first set I put many players from the bench to give them time on court. We struggled a little bit at the beginning to come back,” he said.

Uriarte acknowledged Pakistan put up stiff opposition particularly in the third set but was pleased with their performance.

“The first two sets were tough but the win was good,” he said of his side whose average age is 22.

He said this tournament served a good tune-up for the Asian event but will be naturally disappointed if they return empty handed.

“It’s great, very useful and good,” he said but rued meeting a team like Egypt to whom they lost early in the competition.

“It was a pity. It would have been better to play them on the last day. I knew this match was special but everybody wants to win the tournament as well,” he said.
 

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