Japan into semi-finals after edging out Iran at the 16th Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship
The women’s national volleyball squad from Japan worked out a great win over archrivals Iran in the quarter-final match on Wednesday, September 21. The National Taiwan University Gymnasium recorded an amazing display of volleyball by the Japanese in the crucial match as Iran was whitewashed in only 60 minutes.
Japan remained remarkably consistent and sent 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, and 25-14) onto the board to get a hold of the semi-final spot. In the other quarter-final, Thailand crushed the hosts Chinese Taipei and joined Japan in the semi-final group.
Risa Shinnabe in the number 13 shirt attracted all the attention of spectators from start to end. She proved her mesmerizing volleyball skills on the centre court and received huge applause. Shinnabe registered 14 points on kills, converted three of her serves into aces, and added one points via block. On the whole, she notched 18 points and topped all other scorers. Two of her team-mates also went into double figures. Saori Sakoda and Captain Erika Araki added 11 and 10 points, respectively. On the Iranian side, none of the players could go higher than seven points. Zare was the top contributor from Iran with 7 points on fifteen attack attempts.
Japan took control of the game from the very beginning. They settled in their positions and exhibited perfect techniques to score points. Iran was down with too many reception errors and their attack-attempts did not work out well. Japan built up a strong lead and hindered the performance of Iran by all means. Iran ended up with 8 points in the first set, while Japan secured the opening-set win without putting in much effort.
Despite facing the loss of the first set, Iran did not let go of hope. They came up with a new determination and tried to cover the deficit. Japan was stunned with the quick response of the Iranian team. They realigned their positions and gave a good competition to Japan. The hard work of the setter and middle blockers enabled Iran to shorten the gap of points to 12-13. Maedeh Borhani penetrated the swift spikes and displayed solid blocking against Japan. However, Japan did not surrender and bounced back in the game. Erika Araki, the Japanese Captain, led her team to a second set win at 25-17.
Iran continued with the spirited effort and picked up a two-point lead at 8-6. Farnoosh Sheikhi supplied plenty of power to the ball and directed off her shots in the gaps. Meanwhile, Japan grasped the game plan of their opponent and came up with the appropriate remedy. They strengthened their defence line and broke the rhythm of the Iranians. Japan finished the third set with 25-14 and declared match victory and also accepted the ticket into the semi-finals.
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