Sri Lanka lost to Vietnam in a 5-set thriller in their final pool C match at the 19th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship in Surabaya, Indonesia.

Sri Lanka came into the match after losing to Japan and Korea – but showed real fight. They lost 25-17, 25-19 & 25-17 to Japan and to Korea 25-15, 25-20 & 25-20.

Sri Lanka go down fighting against Japan & Korea

Sri Lanka battled valiantly but had to end up on the losing side against Japan and South Korea in the two pool A matches of the 19th

Vietnam was a match which Sri Lanka wanted to win but unfortunately fell short after going the distance. Sri Lanka lost 25-19, 16-25, 25-21, 20-25 & 15-9.

Vietnam won the first set 25-19 but Sri Lanka blew away the opposition to win the 2nd set 25-16.

The 3rd set was a closely contested one where Vietnam pipped Sri Lanka by four points, 25-21. To keep alive in the game Sri Lanka built up a 5-point lead in the 4th set at 15-10 and went onto win it 25-20.

However, the islanders were unable to sustain the momentum as they lost the 5th set 15-9. For Sri Lanka Janitha Surath scored 16 points while Lasindu Methmal Wasanthapriya made a huge difference scoring 15 points in the last two sets. Hoang Van Phuong scored 17 points for Vietnam.

Results (Day 3)

Pool A
Kazakhstan bt Saudi Arabia 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 22-17)
Indonesia bt Qatar 3-2 (24-26, 14-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-11)

Pool B
Pakistan bt Iraq 3-1 (26-24, 25-17, 17-25, 25-22)
Iran bt Chinese Taipei 3-0 (25-20, 30-28, 25-21)

Pool C
Korea bt Japan 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-8)
Vietnam bt Sri Lanka 3-2 (25-19, 16-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-9)

Pool D
Thailand bt Hong Kong 3-1 (23-25, 25-8, 25-19, 25-21)
Australia bt China 3-0 (26-24, 25-13, 25-23)