India beats Kuwait to clinch first win at Asian Volleyball C'ship

India's Mahesh Ashwin Raj led the way with 11 points in the match -- the highest in the team -- followed by Shubham Chaudhary (10 points) and captain Karthik Ashok (nine).

Published : Sep 16, 2021 16:09 IST

The Indian men's volleyball team beat Kuwait 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20). (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)
The Indian men's volleyball team beat Kuwait 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20). (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)
lightbox-info

The Indian men's volleyball team beat Kuwait 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20). (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

The Indian men's volleyball team beat Kuwait 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) in the Asian Volleyball Championship 2021 at the Funabashi Arena, Japan, on Thursday.

India had earlier lost to Bahrain, Qatar and nine-time champions Japan to finish bottom of Group A.

With only the top-two from each group progressing to the last eight, India is now fighting for the best-possible finish within the ninth to 16th positions at the biennial competition, as per olympics.com.

The Indian volleyball team has been clubbed in Group G -- with Kuwait, Uzbekistan and Bahrain -- in the classification round. It was a dominant performance by India against Kuwait.

ALSO READ |

India's Mahesh Ashwin Raj led the way with 11 points in the match -- the highest in the team -- followed by Shubham Chaudhary (10 points) and captain Karthik Ashok (nine).

Kuwait's Anbar Rashed Saleh scored a match-high 18 points but did not receive enough support from his teammates as Kuwait fell in straight sets of identical scores.

Courtesy the win, India rose to world No 82 from 108 in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) men's rankings. Kuwait was ranked world No 135 after the loss. India will next play Uzbekistan on Friday.

If India finishes in the top-two in Group G, it will compete for places between nine and 12 and if it finishes below that, will vie for the 13th to 16th positions.

India, who finished eighth in the last edition in 2019, has played in all but three of the editions since the competition began in 1975.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment