INDIA and Kazakhstan won in straight sets to kick off action in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Challenge Cup for Women on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.<\/p>\n
India encountered a strong third-set resistance from Iran before wrapping up a 25-17, 25-23, 25-21 win in Pool A that took an hour and 24 minutes, while Kazakhstan had a practically easier time against Singapore, 25-15, 25-9, 25-17, behind Kristina Belova\u2019s 15 points in Pool B action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very proud and happy,\u201d India\u2019s team captain Kovat Shaji Jini said. \u201cThe Iran team\u2019s very good but we focused on our service and digging and we got good results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside spiker Anagha Radhakrishnan was consistent for India all match long and finished with 13 kills and three service aces for 16 points and outside hitter Kambrath Anusree scattered 16 points on top of 13 kills and Shaalini Saravanan had 12 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were fourth place but now we want to win a medal in this championships so,\u201d said Jini, referring to last year\u2019s tournament in East Java where Vietnam won the crown over host Indonesia and the Indians losing to Chinese Taipei in the bronze medal match.<\/p>\n
India goes for payback against Chinese-Taipei at 1 p.m. on Thursday in the event organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation headed by President Ramon \u201cTats\u201d Suzara and supported by Meralco, PLDT, Smart, Akari, AyalaLand, Nuvali, Foton, Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, Mikasa, Senoh, Asics, Maynilad, Makati Shangri-La, Rebisco, Cignal, OneSports, OneSports+ and PilipinasLive.<\/p>\n
Belova had y eight kills and seven aces for the Kazakhs, who weren\u2019t exactly used to playing in a different time zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult in terms of time difference because it\u2019s 7 in the morning back home,\u201d Kazakhstan team captain Sana Anarkulova said. \u201cIt\u2019s so early and our people are still asleep, but we\u2019ll try to perform well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defending champion Vietnam played Hong Kong and Australia faced Chinese Taipei in the other games set late Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Pilipinas Alas debuts against Australia on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Pool A after Indonesia takes on Hong Kong at 10 a.m. in Pool B and Vietnam clashes with Singapore in Pool B at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INDIA and Kazakhstan won in straight sets to kick off action in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Challenge Cup for Women on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. India encountered a strong third-set resistance from Iran before wrapping up a 25-17, 25-23, 25-21 win in Pool A that took an hour and 24 minutes, while Kazakhstan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[181],"class_list":["post-1571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-avc-challenge-cup"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t