AVC Men’s U23 Championship/Unbeaten Japan Move up to SF with win over Malaysia

Ardabil, Iran, May 7, 2017 – The unbeaten Japan brought a straight-set win (25-18, 25-23, 25-23) over Malaysia and moved up to the semifinal as the first team in the seventh day of the SMM 2^nd Asian Men’s U23 Volleyball Championship at the 6,000-seater Rezazadeh Indoor Stadium.

Both teams played fast volleyball however the unbeaten Japan gained the upper hand in combination and defense, especially in dealing with reception and blocks. Malaysia tried their best to find every possible way to attack but the dogged Japanese saved the ball to a comfortable place for counter-attacks. The battle came to an unsurprising 3-0 end in favor of Japan.

Issei Otake scored match-high 18 points from 49 attempts in an efficient way for Japan while Malaysian Jian Qin Sim highly contributed to his team with 13 points.

Tokunaga, Japanese head coach who is determined to overcome the reigning champion Iran said after the match: “Malaysians were good at reception and spikes. We played much better. I think four teams of Japan, Iran, China, and Thailand will move up to the semifinal. We have to wait to see up to the last match though.”