By John Verghese
Doha: Polish side Skra Belchatow began their campaign in style winning 25-22, 25-11, 25-20 against Qatar’s Al Arabi Club in a Pool ‘B’ match of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Men’s Club Volleyball World Championship at the Aspire Zone indoor hall yesterday.
 Belchatow who were playing their first competitive match under the ‘Golden Formula’ rule, though starting tentatively improved in leaps and bounds as the match progressed to snuff out the challenge of the local side.
Belchatow’s coach Jacek Nawrocki attributed the victory to strong service and a disciplined performance.
“We were facing unknown opponents and hence we were tentative initially but strong serves and shrewd offensives helped us take the first set,” he said
“After the first set win, we took control and won the second and despite being tested again in the third set we were able to pull off an important win by focusing on each point,” he added.
Captain Mariusz Wlazly, who was rested for match also expressed his relief with his team’s first win in the championship.
“It is a nice feeling to have won a match under a new format,” he said
Al Arabi coach Mohamed al-Bahri blamed the loss to mistakes in reception at crucial moments. “ Our rivals had a definite height advantage. In addition, mistakes in reception and with our young libero Abdulla being overawed by the reputation of our rivals, the determined efforts of our players failed to fructify and we lost to a side with a spectacular history of achievements at world level tournaments,” he said.
Earlier, Al Arabi began well with Egyptian Ahmed Abdelhay coming good with his serve but Belchatow swiftly fought back through Daniel Plinski, who kept the Al Arabi attacks in check.
With the other Egyptian recruit Abdalla Ahmed also playing a prominent role, Al Arabi maintained their lead but thriving on the strong serves of Stephane Antiga with support from Miguel Falasca, the Polish side took the first set at 25-22.
A vastly improved Polish side then ran up a 8-3 lead in the second set and then with strong serves and timely substitutions took the second set at 25-11.
With their drum beating and cheering fans egging them on, Al Arabi made efforts to raise their game in the third with better reception and defence and held a 8-6 lead. But Belchatow displayed their improving confidence levels as both Marcin Mozdzonek and Stephane Antiga combined upfront to smother the Al Arabi offensives and win the set and match for their team at 25-20.
Earlier in the opening Pool ‘A’ match of the day, favourites Trentino of Italy notched up their first win, powering past Egyptian club Zamalek 25-18, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20 in a match which lasted 108 minutes.
For the Italian side, Osmany Juantorena and Leandro Vissotto excelled with their front and backline attacks. While Vissotto was the top-scorer with 25 points, Juantorena showed his ability in service scoring 11 successive points with his team trailing 11-18 and closed out the match in the fourth set.
Mohamed Badawy impressed for Zamalek.
Trentino’s head coach Radostin Stoytchev said he expected his team to reach the final.
“It was difficult at the start to get used to the new rule. However, we got through the first two sets easily. In the third there was a lapse in concentration for our players but we regrouped well in time to clinch the match in the fourth set.
“Normally, we are considered as favourites wherever we play. But with a new rule here I can’t say. We still have a good chance and hope to be in the final,” said Stoytchev.
Zamalek’s coach Hamed El Sayed blamed the loss on insufficient experience. “We lost because of lack of experience. We started off under pressure but won one set. Ours is a young team and hopefully we can improve in the next games.”
Russia’s Zenit Kazan were 25-20, 25-14, 25-17 winners over Puerto Rico’s Corozal in another Pool ‘A’ match.
Results: Pool ‘A’: Trentino (Italy) bt Zamalek (Egypt) 25-18, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20; Zenit Kazan (Rus) bt Corozal (Puerto Rico) 25-20, 25-14, 25-17.
Pool ‘B’: PGE Skra Belchatow (Poland) bt Al Arabi (Qatar) 25-22, 25-11, 25-20; Paykan (Iran) bt Cimed (Brazil) 15-25, 28-26, 25-21, 25-22.
Today’s schedule: Pool ‘A’: Zamalek (Egy) vs Corozal (Puerto Rico) 11:00 am; Trentino (Ita) vs Zenit Kazan (Rus) 4pm.
Pool ‘B’: Al Arabi (Qatar) vs Cimed (Brazil) 6pm; PGE Skra Belchatow (Pol) vs Paykan (Iran) 8pm. (All matches at Aspire Zone indoor hall). |
