SMM 2017 ASIAN MEN’S CLUB VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
- June 28 to July 6
- Ninh Binh, Vietnam
- Event Site
Championship Match
Sarmayeh Bank Tehran def. Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza 3-0 (39-37, 25-14, 25-23)
Bronze Medal Match
Al Arabi def. Altay 3-1 (22-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-19)
Sarmayeh Bank Tehran of Iran defended its Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship and qualified for a berth in the 2018 Club World Championships with a 3-0 sweep of Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza of Japan in Thursday’s finale.
Al Arabi, the 2016 runner up from Qatar, settled for the bronze medal, defeating Altay, from Kazakhstan, in four sets, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-19.
Sarmayeh’s Shahram Mahmoudi was named tournament MVP. Seven other players were named to the Dream Team.
Best Opposite: Gyorgy Grozer, Al Arabi
Best Outside Spikers: Tetsu Yamachika, Toyoda; Eradipour Gharah Milad, Sarmayeh
Best Middle Blockers: Egarhi Seyed Mousavi, Sarmayeh; Akimovdamir, Altay
Best Libero: Kouchiro Koga, Toyoda
Best Setter: Lukasz Zygadlo, Sarmayeh
MVP: Shahram Mahmoudi, Sarmayeh
Asian Club Championship Dream Team
Sarmayeh Bank Tehran 3, Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza 0
Igor Omrcen scored 35 points, including 32 kills, just seven fewer than the entire Sarmayeh Bank side, but it was not enough to lift Toyoda Gosei to victory.
Toyoda posted 54 kills to Sarmayeh’s 39, but gave up 32 points via miscues in the match (to just 16 for the victors). Sarmayeh also outblocked Toyoda 11-2 and outserved them 7-2.
“Today it was the most important match for us,” Sarmayeh coach Mostafa Karkhaneh said. “We came here to defend our title. We played many tough teams in this tournament, but we fought until the end. If we played with a lot of mistakes, we could not go this far. To win the championship is like to eat a delicious sweet cake for us. I am very happy for our team’s victory.”
Toyoda led 10-7 early in Set 1, but Sarmayeh tied it up at 24. Toyoda had a set point chance at 25-24, but eventually an overpass kill by Eraghi Seyed Mohammad Mousavi ended the set at 39-37. Set 2 saw Sarmayeh take a quick 8-3 lead and go up 16-8 en route to the 25-14 win. Sarmayeh boasted a 7-3 edge in Set 3, but Toyoda matched them point for point en route to a 23-all tie. A hitting error by Toyoda sealed the win for the defending champs.
Sarmayeh featured a balanced attack, with three players scoring in double-digits. Shahram Mahmoudi and Gharah Milad Ebadipour posted 15 points apiece, while Eraghi Seyed Mohammad Mousavi added 10. Mahmoudi downed a team-best 14 kills, while Ebadipour added 10 kills and four aces. Mousavi chipped in seven kills and three blocks.
Ormcen added two blocks and an ace to his kill tally to pace Toyoda. Takuya Takamatsu was the next highest scorer for the side at six points, all on kills.
Al Arabi 3, Altay 0
Al Arabi claimed third place by downing Altay Volleyball Club in four sets on Thursday. The Qatari team was led by Grozer Gyorgy, who managed 29 points, and Mohammed Ibrahim, who chipped in 12.
Grozer tallied 24 kills, three aces and two blocks. Ibrahim added eight kills and four stuffs.
As a team, Al Arabi tallied seven more kills (49-42) and seven more blocks (13-6), while each team served up four aces. Al Arabi also was aided by 31 Altay miscues.
The teams played to a 16-all tie in Set 1, before Alexandre Stolnikov’s strong service game lifted Altay to at 24-22 edge. Tupchii put down the final kill in the 25-22 victory. Al Arabi rebounded to win three straight sets with help from Grozer’s jump serve and powerful offense and a lineup switch in the final two stanzas.
“We had a very tough match against Iran in the semi-finals yesterday, so today we don’t have any choice,” Al Arabi coach Lajnef Maaouia said. “We tried to do our best as we wanted to take a bronze medal and join the podium. That is why we are motivated today. We played well after the first set loss. I sent (Angel) Miguel into the court and he did a good job. I am very happy that we finally won the match.”
Vasyl Tupchii paced Altay with 16 points, while Vitaliy Vorivodin added 11 points. Tupchii tallied 13 kills, two blocks and an ace, while Vorivodin chipped in 10 kills and an ace.
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