Volleyball

HÀ NỘI — Sarmayeh Bank of Iran triumphed in the SMM 2017 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship after defeating Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza of Japan in the final showdown on July 6.

Sarmayeh Bank won 39-37, 25-14, 25-23 in the match played at Ninh Bình Gymnasium.

In 2016, the Iranian team had captured their maiden victory in Myanmar, after beating Al Arabi Sports Club from Qatar in the final clash.

Earlier, in the third-place playoff, Qatar’s Al Arabi Sports Club, which had won silver in the last edition, defeated Kazakhstan’s Altay VC club 22-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-19 to grab the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, in the fifth-sixth playoff, Iraq’s Al-Bahri Sport Club caused a major sensation when it cruised past China’s Beijing Baic Motor in a four-setter 25-14, 25-14, 19-25, 25-22. Al-Bahri won the fifth place, with the Chinese side leaving the stadium with heads low in despair after their below-par performance left them in the sixth spot.

In the seventh-eighth playoff, held in Nam Định Gymnasium, Việt Nam lost to Taichung Commercial Bank of Chinese Taipei (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-17), the Asian Men’s Club winners in its 2015 edition.

Title-winners Samaryeh Bank have qualified for the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship as Asia’s representatives.

The event’s organising board gave the best setter award to Sarmayeh Bank’s Zygadlo Lukasz. The best outside Spiker award belonged to Tetsu Yamachika of Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza, while his teammate Koichiro Koga won the best libero award. The best opposite award went to Gyorgy Grozer of Al Arabi Sports Club. — VNS