Vietnam lost 0-3 to South Korea in their first match in the Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship being held in Surabaya, Indonesia, on Monday.

Vietnam (in yellow) lose to South Korea in their first match at the Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship held in Surabaya, Indonesia, on Monday.

The team found no way to play against South Korea, losing 17-25, 19-25, 17-25 in Pool C.

In the next match today, Vietnam will play defending champions Japan, who thrashed Sri Lanka 25-17, 25-16, 25-17. South Korea will next meet Sri Lanka.

In other matches on Monday, Iran, former two-time Asian champions, sailed past Iraq incomfortable straight sets 25-17, 25-16, 25-21, while the Chinese side had little problem beating Thailand 25-19, 29-27, 25-13.

Australia, who have qualified for next year’s World Championship, used their advantage of height to attack Hong Kong and won 25-17, 25-20, 25-16.

Earlier, hosts Indonesia pulled off a hard-fought victory overSaudi Arabia in the opener, while Kazakhstan came from behind to defeat Qatar.

Chinese Taipei also made their mark on the first day of the top-tier tournament, which is being held simultaneously at the Tri Dharma Peutrokimia Gymnasium and Wahana Ekspresi Poesponggoro Gymnasium, to outclass Pakistan in straight sets 25-17, 25-16, 25-13.

After the end of the pool round-robin preliminaries on Wednesday, only the top two teams from each pool will make the cut for the quarter-finals. The teams finishing in third and fourth places from each pool will fight for the 9th-16th classifications. 

VNS