Sri Lanka after missing out on a top eight finish defeated Hong Kong 3 sets to 1 in the 9-11th place playoffs of the SMM 11th Asian Boys’ U19 Volleyball championship in Nay-Pyi-Taw, Myanmar.
Sri Lanka who finished an impressive 5th place in the 2014 Championship, when it was held in Sri Lanka failed to match or improve on the performance as they lost to Thailand (3-0) and Japan (3-0) in the group stage which left them fighting for the 9-11th place finish against Hong Kong and Bangladesh.
Thailand dents Sri Lanka hopes; Myanmar, Korea & China win
In-form Thailand got off to a convincing start after thrashing Sri Lanka in a comfortable straight-set encounter 25-10 25-15 25-23 at the SMM…
Sri Lanka loses to Japan, misses top eight finish; Korea stuns Iran
Japan backed their first win in the tournament after outclassing Sri Lanka in straight sets 25-14 25-21 25-17, relegating the rivals to the 9th-11th classification round…
However in a match where Sri Lanka U19’s were favourites, it was Hong Kong who took the 1st set 25-23 in a thrilling contest.
Sri Lanka did recover in the 2nd set to win 22-25 in another close encounter. Sri Lanka would go onto win the next two sets 20-25 with Hong Kong, who finished 13th in the 2014 Championship, hot on their heels.
Other Results
Iran, who had won the Championship in the last six editions, suffered their 2nd shock defeat at the hands of China. China, who finished 3rd in 2014, defeated Iran 21-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17 & 15-10 in a back and forth thrilling contest.
Korea defeated Chinese Taipei 25-14, 25-23 & 25-22. Hosts Myanmar went down fighting against Thailand 25-27, 18-25 & 23-25.
In the final game of the day Japan, reigning runners-up, had a walk in the park beating Australia 25-15, 25-13 & 25-10.
