[1]In a highly-contested match, India lost to defending champions Iran 24-26, 29-27, 25-27, 22-25 (105–100) in the Pool B match of Asia Cup held at Vinh Phuc in Vietnam on Sunday.
After losing the first set 24-26, India came back winning the third set in style, 29-27. However, a more experienced and skilled Iran beat India in the final two sets to clinch the match 25-27, 22-25.
Earlier, on Saturday, India defeated top-ranked Australia in straight sets 25-18, 25-22, 25-23 (75-63) to start their campaign in style.
India, the bronze medal winners in the Asia Cup 2010 held in Iran, started the first set in full throttle by winning it 25-18.
Australia, ranked in top 10 in the world and played in the London Olympics 2012, were subdued in the second set too as Indian spikers led by Gurinder Singh grabbed each point to make it 25-22.
Indians were dominant in the third set too, winning it 25-23 and sealing the game. Gurinder Singh clinched the best scorer spot with 17 points while S. Prabhagaran ably supported him with 13 points.
“All the players were in full form. It was a great match we had against Australia. Though Australia did not come with their full team to the championship, it was a great experience for us.
We were in complete domination in the match,” said Vibin George, who is part of the Indian team in Vietnam.
“The second match was a tough win. However, we were able to give a good fight. The coach says that if we had improved in some more positions and minimized our errors, we could have won the match.
We are glad that we were able to perform brilliantly against the top two teams in the group,” says Vibin.
India will face another top-ranked team China in their next group match in the Pool B on Monday.
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