Volleyball Update: Pakistan lost the first match to arch rivals India 12th Al-Rashid Men’s Volleyball Championship, Dubai
The amazing battle of Asian Volleyball teams in underway in Dubai. The 12th Al-Rashid Men’s International Volleyball Championship has provided a great opportunity to the aspiring young guns of Asian content to contest their abilities with each
other and get famous. The event is scheduled to stage sizzling performances from 8-13 October, 2010.
The championship greeted six teams from Pakistan, India, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia and home-team from United Arab Emirates (UAE). This event has one special feature that two conventional rivals India and Pakistan are in the squad. The two neighbour countries
have developed great rivalry in every sport and volleyball is no exception in this regard.
In the recent memory, India hosted the Asian Central Zone Volleyball Championship, which completed its run from 16-20 September, 2010. The green shirts also represented Pakistan in the championship. By hook or by crook, the Pakistani team couldn’t produce
a match winning performance and lost all their fights. Nonetheless, it was great to see two enemies facing each other.
Here it comes again! The 12th Al-Rashid Men’s International Volleyball Champion brought them together for another bruising battle. India met Pakistan in the first encounter on 9th October, 2010 and beat the resilient contender Pakistan
with a score of 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 24-26, and 25-23).
Before the start of match, Pakistani team was all pumped up to crush everything in their way. They had new captain in their squad as former Captain Zaheer Abbass was replaced by Muhammad Isamail Khan for this championship. The team was determined to show
their hard side to India but somehow, their strategy didn’t work and they lost another fight.
The match was opened with Indian powerful serves and convincing shots. The early lead provided them extra edge to take Pakistani team under their influence. The game progressed and p**i players slowly but steadily raised their heads. They blocked killing
spikes by Indian hitters and returned the ball in opponents’ court. The counter attack attempts helped Green-shirts to chase Indian score. The exchange of heavy shots and angry looks gave way to a heated competition.
The score shifted with a close gap and anxiety started building up as the first set covered its length. India brought its best hitters and created trouble for Pakistan’s defence. Pakistani put a great effort but the first set ultimately ended in India’s
favour at 25-23. Pakistan dropped the opening set by trailing three points behind Indian score.
The second set also came successful for India. The victory in first set boosted their morale and they produced even better shots in second set. Pakistan struggled to come out of blues but remained unsuccessful. The major problem in Pakistan’s squad was poor
communication. The bad ball reception occurred due to lack of communication. The ball dropped between two players and ‘camp-fire’ added more points in India’s score. India heavily pressurised the rival side with outstanding delivery of spikes and aces. They
picked up a lead and swiftly hit the finish line. India won the second set by 25-15 and led the game with 2-0.
Pakistan was deep down in trouble after losing opening two sets. The team needed a superb plan to dismantle Indian power. In the timeout period, the head coach of Pakistan’s team, Augusto Sabbatini instructed the players to stay united and target the back-court
area. The third set started and Pakistan finally made a come-back in the game. It was not an easy task to overcome charged up Indians. Somehow, Green shirts managed to steal points from India and hit the ball with full power of their arms. The good defence,
better communication and deadly attacks enabled Pakistani team to win the third set by 26-24.
Pakistan’s team created a buzz in the third set but India came up with strong attacks in the following set. Indian tried hard to end the game with fourth set win, while Pakistan wanted to extend the game to another set. The luck favoured India and they clawed
their way to success. India proved to be too good for Pakistan and claimed fourth set. Pakistan couldn’t bring any improvement in their game and started the campaign with a loss of the first match.
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