Hosts Indonesia produced a fantastic comeback 3-2 (24-26 14-25 25-20 25-21 15-11) victory over Qatar to join Kazakhstan, Iran, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Japan, Australia and China to the top eight teams at the SMM 19th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship

Contesting their last Pool A encounter against Qatar at the Tri Dharma Petrokimia Gymnasium, Indonesia shrugged off their dismal start of losing two sets in a row 24-26 14-25 to regain their poise and fight back to take the remaining three sets 25-20 25-21 15-11.

Rendy Febriant Tamamilang scored a team-high 23 points for the host side including 19 kills from 38 attempts and 3 aces. Rivan Nurmulki contributed similar 19 kills plus 3 solid blocks, while Bojan Dukic led Qatar with 18 points. Digne Papemaguette added 10 kills and 5 kill blocks.

Another Pool A match on Wednesday saw Kazakhstan maintain their unbeaten record following their sensational 25-13 25-22 25-17 win over Saudi Arabia.

Former successive two-time champions Iran, fielding a U23 squad in their final preparation for the next month’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s U23 World Championship in Cairo, Egypt, had a perfect run in Pool B after not losing a set to their respective opponents. Iran ended their preliminary match with a bang by beating Chinese Taipei, whose team members competed with the 2015 Asian Club winning-Taichung Bank, in straight sets 25-20 30-28 25-21.

“I think we played a good match against a strong team like Chinese Taipei. Winning 3-0 is very important for us and we will try to keep winning in our next matches. We next play China, one of the strongest teams in Asia with an excellent coach Raul Lozano, and Australia, the team which have already qualified for the World Championship. Both teams are of course strong for us to be reckoned with. For us, it’s important to gain competition experience ahead of the Men’s U23 World Championship. The key point of our success is that we attacked and served well,” Iran’s Argentine head coach Juan Manuel Cichello commented after the match.

In the other Pool B clash, Pakistan put it past Iraq in dramatic four-setter 26-24 25-17 17-25 25-22.

In Pool C, both matches played tough five sets on Wednesday. Korea pulled off a stunning 25-22 21-25 17-25 25-18 15-9 win over defending and eight-time winners Japan, with Vietnam powering past Sri Lanka 25-19 16-25 25-21 20-25 15-9.

Another surprise win came from Pool D, where Australia survived a scare from China after a 3-0 (26-24 25-13 25-23) rout of the 2015 bronze medallists.

“It was not a surprise win against China because it was what we worked for. We played China twice in the World League Group 2 and we beat them in the first meet in straight sets and lost the second one 1-3. I think it was our team’s good chance to win today. Winning 3-0 is a small surprise, but I’m happy because this win carries us to the next round. It’s important for us,” Australia’s head coach Mark Lebedew commented after the match against China.

“Next we play Chinese Taipei and then Iran. We played Chinese Taipei one week ago at the World Championship AVC Qualifier Pool B, 3-0 for us, but every set was difficult and it was a really hard match. So, tomorrow will be a hard match for us also. But we are in really good conditions. We have a strong team that we can play everyday. Yesterday, Thomas Hodges scored 22 points and today, Williams Lincoln scored 16 points, so, we are lucky in this way that we can manage team as well as our good performance.”

Thailand struggled to hit form in the same pool, recovering from one-set loss to breeze past Hong Kong in a four-set battle which ended 23-25 25-8 25-19 25-21 in favour of the Thai team.

At the end of the pool round-robin preliminaries on Wednesday, Kazakhstan captured the top spot in Pool A with 7 points from successive three wins, followed by hosts Indonesia with 6 points from 2 wins against 1 loss. Qatar and Saudi Arabia finished third and fourth places respectively.

The Pool B honours went to Iran with a clean sweep and 9 points. Chinese Taipei had 6 points from two wins against one loss. Pakistan and Iraq collected 3 and no point respectively.

Korea won Pool C with 8 points from straight three wins, while title-holders Japan came in second place with 7 points. Pakistan and Iraq were placed third and fourth, while promising Australia claimed Pool D with 8 points from straight three wins. China, Thailand and Hong Kong finished second, third and fourth places with 6, 4, 0 point respectively.

Playoffs for top-8 teams and 9th-16th are being held from July 27 to 29, with Friday, July 28 will be the rest day.

Wednesday’s results
Pool round-robin preliminaries
Pool A
Indonesia b Qatar 3-2 (24-26 14-25 25-20 25-21 15-11)
Kazakhstan b Saudi Arabia 3-0 (25-13 25-22 25-17)

Pool B
Iran b Chinese Taipei 3-0 (25-20 30-28 25-21)
Pakistan b Iraq 3-1 (26-24 25-17 17-25 25-22)

Pool C
Korea b Japan 3-2 (25-22 21-25 17-25 25-18 15-9)
Vietnam b Sri Lanka 3-2 (25-19 16-25 25-21 20-25 15-9)

Pool D
Australia b China 3-0 (26-24 25-13 25-23)
Thailand b Hong Kong 3-1 (23-25 25-8 25-19 25-21)

Rankings after end of preliminaries
Pool A: 1. Kazakhstan; 2. Indonesia; 3. Qatar; 4. Saudi Arabia
Pool B: 1. Iran; 2. Chinese Taipei; 3. Pakistan; 4. Iraq
Pool C: 1. Korea; 2. Japan; 3. Vietnam; 4. Sri Lanka
Pool D: 1. Australia; 2. China; 3. Thailand; 4. Hong Kong

Match schedule
At the Tri Dharma Petrokimia Gymnasium
11.30am: 1D-Australia v 2B-Chinese Taipei
14.00pm: 1B-Iran v 2D-China
16.30pm: 1A-Kazakhstan v 2C-Japan
19.00pm: 1C-Korea v 2A-Indonesia

At the Wahana Ekspresi Poesponegoro Gymnasium
11.30am: 3A-Qatar v 4C-Sri Lanka
14.00pm: 3B-Pakistan v 4D-Hong Kong
16.30pm: 3C-Vietnam v 4A-Saudi Arabia
19.00pm: 3D-Thailand v 4B-Iraq

FIVB World Grand Prix gets underway in Bangkok as Thailand,Italy,Turkey and Dominican Republic would battle for the honours for Pool H1.

FIVB World Grand Prix gets underway at Hua Mak stadium in Bangkok as 4 teams battle it out for supremacy in the major International event.Host Thailand will be playing against Dominican Republic while Italy clashes against Turkey in the tournament opener the event that would span out over July 21-23,2017

In the opening game Italy and Turkey went head to head as both teams went neck to neck till first technical time out.Around 12 point mark Italy broke away with the lead by 17-12 with strong spikes and good blocking from it's towering power.Turkey got a couple of close decisions against their favour as Turkey were successful in one out of their three challenges.Eventually conceding the set by 17-25In the second set, both team went for the glory as Italy lead 8-7 at the first technical timeout and stretched the lead to 12-9 but Turkey managed to pull back and tied the score at 12-12 as Italy Coach Davide Mazzanti was forced to take a time out to break the rhythm of Turkey.After the break Italy looked stronger and managed a slender lead by 16-13 at the second technical timeout.But Turkey made it 16-19   as the spikers upped the ante in the later half of the set forcing Italy to take a time out to re organize their blocking.But Turkey brought their A-game in second set as they rallied to win the second set by 20-25 margin.In the third both teams were tied at 19-19 though Turkey looked the stronger side.But on the last few points Italy managed to break a lead by good tactical play to lead by 19-21 margin and eventually winning the set by 21-25 margin to take a crucial 2-1 lead.In third set Turkey managed to lead by 14-16 at the second technical timeout but eventually Italy winning by 25-21 followed by a marathon 4th set to beat Turkey by 32-30 in a game that lasted over 2 hours.

In the second game host,Thailand took on Dominican Republic at the full capacity Hua Mak Indoor Stadium as the local favourites looked to start tournament with a bang.In the first set Thailand started strong with two back to back aces to lead 8-4 at the first technical time out as the the crowd buzzed cheering the home team.Thailand kept the momentum going and the spikers were on their mark while the blockers were blocking most spikes from Dominican attack line to lead 16-12 at the 2nd technical time out and rallying onto winning the first set by 17-25 margin.
In the second set Thailand raced to 5-1 lead owing to some clinical spiking and aces dished out the Dominican receivers.Thailand took lead of 8-5 at first technical time  out but Dominican republic pulled back to level scores at 8-8.Dominican Republic shrugged of their initial nervous moments as they got a grip of the game to lead 16-13 at second technical time out. Thailand surged for a late come back with some crucial points and trailed 19-23 and eventually conceded the set by 21-25 points.
In the third set, a close battle saw Dominican republic leading by a point to head into first technical time out 8-7 and leading 16-14 at the second technical timeout.Thailand came back strong after the time out and spikes and stretched the Dominican receiving line to lead 20-17 but Thailand played out of their skin to pull off an amazing 26-24 margin victory to make it 2-1 at the end of third set.
Going in with the momentum in the fourth set,Thailand were rattled by some good court play off the court as Dominican forwards as the stronger spikers smashed out the initial exchange to lead by 13-8 in the fourth set but Thailand crawled back into the game winning few strong points to reduce the deficit to 16-13 at the second Technical time out.At one stage Thailand looked they could seal the match as they tied at 19-19 in a good passage of play but eventually The stronger Dominican players stretched the Thailand back-line to win the set 21-25.
In the final set Dominican republic started strong to lead 4-8 at changeover. Domincan used their height and reach and the setter combined well with spikers to win the final set by a comfortable 15-7 margin to  win the match by 3-2 margin.