Champion Qatari players celebrate after defeating Iran in the final of the AVC Cup Tournament in Taipei, Chinese Taipei yesterday.
Doha: After dropping the first two sets, debutants Qatar made a brilliant comeback to see off the defending champions Iran 3-2 (23–25, 21–25, 25–22, 25–18, 15–10) in a thrilling finale to clinch the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup title in Taipei, Chinese Taipei yesterday.
Both Qatar and Iran entered the final full of confidence as the were the only unbeaten teams in the tournament.
Qatar defeated Vietnam (3-0) and Thailand (3-0) in the group stage and outplayed South Korea 3-0 in the quarter-finals before reaching the final with a 3-1 win against Asian champions Japan.
In yesterday’s final at the University of Taipei Gymnasium, the three-time title winners Iran got off to a brilliant start and went on to secure the first set with a margin of 25-23 despite a strong fightback from Al Annabi.
Iran got closer to winning back to back titles by outplaying the Qatari men in the second set (25-21) to make it 2-0 in their favour.
But that is when the Qatari team turned the tide with destructive serves and thundering attacks to overcome the strong Iranian defense. Qatar made the full use of their height advantage against the seasoned Iranians to claim the third set 25-22 to reduce lead. Iran failed to pose a similar kind of a threat in the fourth set as Qatar won 25-18 to tie the game at 2-2.
In the initial stages of the decider, Qatar were in full swing and led 4-1 before Iran reduced the deficit. However, Ribeiro Renan led the Qatari attack to spoil Iranian attempts to win the final set with an impressive margin of 15-10 to earn the Championship crown.
“We are very excited now. We always believe that we can win the championship. The main reason we could win the Cup is our attitude for every game. We never give up. Every player did his job well, and we worked consistently as a team,” Qatar head coach Camilo Soto said after yesterday’s win.
Renan contributed 20 points while Most Valuable Player of the tournament Ibrahim Mohamed added 16. Hammad Mubarak (19) and Vasic Nikola (15) also made valuable contributions for champions Al Anabi.
Earlier, Japan grabbed the bronze medal after pulling off an epic comeback win of 3-2 (21-25, 20-25, 32-30, 29-27, 17-15) over hosts Chinese Taipei.
