AVC Men’s Club Champs/Final Standings Released

In the third-place playoff earlier, Qatar’s Al Arabi Sports Club, which took silver at the previous episode last year in Myanmar, avenged the first-round loss to Altay VC, beating the Kazakh side with a comeback 3-1 (22-25 25-13 25-20 25-19) win to grab bronze.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Al-Bahri Sport Club caused a major sensation after cruising past Beijing Baic Motor from China in four-setter 25-14 25-14 19-25 25-22 in the 5th-6th playoff. Al-Bahri took home the fifth place, with the Chinese side leaving the competition site with heads low in great despair following their below-par performance to finish a disappointing sixth in Vietnam.

The 7th-8th place playoff between Vietnam Sports Club and Taichung Commercial Bank from Chinese Taipei was held at the Nam Dinh Gymnasium, which saw the strong visitors come from behind to beat the host side with dramatic 3-1 (21-25 25-20 25-22 25-17) victory.

Taichung Commercial Bank, the Asian Men’s Club winners at the 2015 edition on home soil, were led by devastating Liu Hung-Min, who scored 19 points including 17 kills from 34 attempts for Taichung Bank. Chen Chien-Chen proved to be an asset for the team to hand the team additional 18 points. Tu Thanh Thuan led the host team with 16 points.

At the awards presentation, Sarmayeh Bank stood proudly on the victory podium to receive the prestigious trophy and gold medals, with second-placed Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza and third-placed Al Arabi Sports Club claiming silver and bronze medals respectively. As the eventual winners, Samaryeh Bank have qualified for the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship as the Asia’s representatives.

THURSDAY’S RESULTS
At Nam Dinh Gymnasium
7th-8th playoff: Taichung Commercial Bank (Chinese Taipei) b Vietnam Sports Club (Vietnam) 3-1 (21-25 25-20 25-22 25-17)

At Ninh Binh Gymnasium
5th-6th playoff: Al-Bahri Sport Club (Iraq) b Beijing Baci Motor (China) 3-1 (25-14 25-14 19-25 25-22)
Bronze medal match: Al Arabi Sports Club (Qatar) b Altay VC (Kazakhstan) 3-1 (22-25 25-13 25-20 25-19)
Championship match: Sarmayeh Bank (Iran) b Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan) 3-0 (39-37 25-14 25-23)

FINAL RANKINGS
1. Sarmayeh Bank (Iran) – qualified for 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship
2. Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan)
3. Al Arabi Sports Club (Qatar)
4. Altay VC (Kazakhstan)
5. Al-Bahri Sport Club (Iraq)
6. Beijing Baic Motor (China)
7. Taichung Commercial Bank (Chinese Taipei)
8. Vietnam Sports Club (Vietnam)
9. Air Force VC (Thailand)
10. Canberra Heat (Australia)
11. Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Sri Lanka)
12. Maldivian Sports & Recreation Club (Maldives)
13. Yan Chai (Hong Kong)