Asian Volleyball C'ship: India register second straight win, beat Uzbekistan

Funabashi Arena [Japan], September 17 (ANI): The Indian men's volleyball team defeated Uzbekistan 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-22) in the Asian Volleyball Championship 2021 at the Funabashi Arena, Japan, on Friday.
India registered their second straight win in the competition and are now assured to finish between the ninth and 12th positions at the biennial event.
The Indian volleyball team had earlier lost to Bahrain, Japan and Qatar to end on the bottom of Group A. While Japan and Qatar -- the top two from the group -- advanced to the last eight, India played in the classification round for the best-possible finish within the ninth to 16th positions, as per olympics.com
Grouped with Bahrain, Kuwait and Uzbekistan in Group G of the classification round, India recorded two wins to finish second in the pool. India will next play Saudi Arabia in the ninth to 12th place semi-finals on Saturday.
Riding on the momentum from the win against Kuwait, India dominated the proceedings against Uzbekistan to win in straight sets.
India's Vinit Kumar, with 15 points, was the joint-highest scorer of the match, and found support from Rai Ashwal, who scored 13 points.
For Uzbekistan, Sobirov Akhrorjon topped the charts with 15 points but none of his teammates could score in double digits.
Following the win, India moved up to 79 from 82 in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) men's rankings. (ANI)