Sri Lanka will face hosts Bahrain in the 9th place play-off match at the 19th Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship 2018.
Sri Lanka v Kazakhstan (Round of 16)
Sri Lanka defeated Kazakhstan and Australia in the group stage to move into the Round of 16. However, Sri Lanka had to once again face Kazakhstan in the Round of 16, where the islanders who did not have a physiotherapist and an analyzer lost 3-1.
Sri Lanka U20 in two rallying wins
Sri Lanka Men’s U20 started off the 19th Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship 2018 winning …
The tournament structure was believed to have changed during the tournament where Sri Lanka were originally drawn into face hosts Bahrain in the Round of 16.
Sri Lanka had a few injuries coming into the game and after a tight battle lost the 1st set 26-24. They managed to make it 1-1 with a fairly comfortable 16-25 win in the 2nd set but lost badly 25-13 in the 3rd set.
In a must win 4th set Sri Lanka fought till the end but lost 25-21, restricting themselves to play for 9th-12th places. For Sri Lanka Mahela Indeewara had 21 points from 17 spikes, 3 blocks and 1 aces and Sanka Dilshan Jayarathne had 12 points from 10 spikes and 2 aces.
The new competition format saw Australia and Kazakhstan who lost to Sri Lanka in the group stage move into the last 8. The new system had another casualty as Japan who were ranked 4th coming into the tournament lost to 12th seed Chinese Taipei in the Round of 16 and will now play in the 13th place play-off.
Sri Lanka v Qatar (9th-12th semi-finals)
Sri Lanka quickly recovered from the disappointment to defeat Qatar 3-1 and move into the 9th place playoff.
Sri Lanka won the 1st set 25-21 but Qatar managed to win the 2nd set 21-25. Sri Lanka came back strongly winning the 3rd 25-18 and won the 4th as well 26-24 after a tight battle.
Vidura Prabath Perera and Mahela Indeewara were once again the star performers for Sri Lanka. Mahela scored 28 points through 23 spikes, 3 blocks and 2 aces while Perera had 21 points from 15 spikes, 4 blocks and 2 aces.
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