Asian men’s Qualification Tournament for 2014 World Championship
Meanwhile, Pakistan, who lost their first game to India and beat Sri Lanka in five sets on the following day, stormed past the Maldives in straight sets for their second victory, which helped them to collect five points and finished second of the tournament, thus ensuring their berth in the final round.
India beat Sri Lanka 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 25-19) and Pakistan defeated Maldives 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-20). After three days, India bagged nine points from three wins and Pakistan collected five points, while Sri Lanka earned four points and Maldives remained empty-handed.
The top two from this meet will make the cut for the continent’s 16-team final round in September. Australia, Iran, China and Japan will jointly host the final round to form Pool A, B, C and D respectively, with three qualified teams joining each pool. Only the eventual winners from each pool, totaling four from Asia, will then be eligible for the next year’s 24-team FIVB World Championship in Poland.
So far, 12 teams have already qualified for the Asia’s final round. They comprise Australia, Iran, China, Japan, South Korea, all of them automatically qualified as the Asia’s top five in the FIVB world ranking. Also advancing to the final round are Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and New Zealand. The last four tickets will be decided in the Asian Western Zonal Qualification Tournaments.
Wednesday’s results
Sri Lanka vs Maldives 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-23)
India vs Pakistan 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-21)
Thursday’s results
Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 17-25, 25-17, 15-12)
India vs. Maldives 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-12)
Friday’s results
Pakistan vs. Maldives 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-20)
Sri Lanka vs. India 0-3 (20-25, 26-28, 19-25)
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