AVC Men’s Club Champs/Toyoda Succumb to 0-3 defeat at Hands of Title-holders Sarmayeh Bank

Ninh Binh, Vietnam, July 3, 2017 – Formidable Sarmayeh Bank still proved a tough nut to crack at the SMM 2017 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Ninh Binh Gymnasium when the title-holders on Monday stunned Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza of Japan in straight sets 25-14 25-22 25-22 in their last playoff Pool F match at the round of the last eight teams.

Sarmayeh Bank fielded a strong line-up led by hard-hitting Milad Ebadipour Gharah and Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi Seyed and highly- experienced Shahram Mahmoudi, while Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza rested some key players including Croatian Igor Omrcen in this match.

Sarmayeh Bank built to an early 11-4 lead in the first set until the Toyoda’s Finnish head coach Tommi Tiilikainen Tommi called a timeout to improve their tactics. However, the Iranians continued their dominant performance throughout the remainder of the set to win effortlessly 25-14.

Going down one set, Toyoda, bronze medalists at the previous edition in Myanmar last year, tried hard to mount a strong challenge against the crack rivals in the second set. The Japanese side’s determined efforts paid off impressively when they captured a commanding 16-12 lead at the second technical timeout. However, the Japanese dominance did not last long as Sarmayeh Bank regained their composure to level at 19-19. The Iranians went on their superb form, taking advantage of their opponents’ errors to snatch the hard-fought set 25-22.

The third set was more thrilling when both teams gave it all out and traded points from the very beginning of the set. Milad Ebadipour Gharah and Mohamad Mousavi Eraghi Seyed became scoring machines of Samayeh Bank to help the team lead 8-5 in the first technical timeout, while Ryosuke Tsubakiyama handed Toyoda may vital points through his spectacular attacks.

The Iranian side cruised to take the match point 24-21, allowing the Japanese one more point before Shahram attacked powerfully to help Sarmayeh Bank end the Toyoda’s challenge 25-22 and match.

Milad Ebadipour Gharah top scored for Sarmayeh Bank with 13 points while Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi Seyed added another 13 points. Ryosuke Tsubakiyama led Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza with 17 points.

“The Japanese team rested some key players for this match. I don’t know if that was their strategy or for any reason. In each match, we have some improvement and good coordination. I hope we can advance to the final round,” Samaryeh Bank’s head coach Mostafa Karkhaneh said after the match.

“In the quarter-finals we will play Al-Bahri Sport Club from Iraq. We will play our level and we will do our best,” he added.