Kam Air Places 7th

In their final match of the Asian Club Volleyball Championship, Afghanistan’s Kam Air volleyball team secured seventh place by defeating Kuwait’s Sporting Club.

According to the Volleyball Federation’s Communications Department, the final stage of the 26th Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship to determine the fifth to eighth place teams took place today (Saturday, September 23) with two matches.

Kam Air (Afghanistan) and Sporting Club (Kuwait) faced off at 2 PM to determine the seventh place. Kam Air triumphed 3-1 with scores of 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, and 29-27, securing seventh place in the competition.

In the first set, Hamid Movahedi’s Players showcased a beautiful game and, with significant improvement from their initial matches, defeated Sporting Club Kuwait 25-19.

The second set also saw Afghanistan’s dominance, maintaining a consistent lead to win 25-20.

However, in the third set, Sporting Club (Kuwait) edged out their Afghan opponents with a close 25-23 victory, pushing the match to a fourth set.

The Afghan team’s Iranian coach’s students, who have learned well alongside volleyball stars in the Asian Club Volleyball Championship, ended the thrilling fourth set with a 29-27 victory. Additionally, in this set, Kuwait’s setter Abdullah Bouftain received a yellow card for protesting the referee’s decision.

Indra Muflih from Indonesia and Alireza Gharib from Iran were the first and second referees of this match, respectively.

Kam Air (Afghanistan) experienced two defeats against Foolad Sirjan and Al-Rayyan Qatar in the preliminary stage and won against Gas Al-Janoob in their third match. In the quarterfinals, they lost to the representative of Kazakhstan, moving on to compete for the fifth to eighth places. The Afghans also lost to Gas Al-Janoob Iraq in the semifinals but secured seventh place in their final match against Sporting Club Kuwait.

This year marks Afghanistan’s fifth participation in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship, achieving their best performance. The team finished 12th in 2011 and 2012, 14th in 2023, and 15th in 2015.

Sporting Club (Kuwait) faced three defeats in the preliminary stage against representatives from Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Iran (Shahdab Yazd). They were eliminated in the first knockout stage by Foolad Sirjan Iranian and missed out on the top four. In the semifinals, they lost to Al-Rayyan Qatar and finished eighth after their final match against Afghanistan.

Gas Al-Janoob (Iraq) and Al-Rayyan Sporting Club (Qatar) will compete at 5 PM in their final match at Shahdab Yazd’s hall for fifth place. The ranking and final matches will also take place at 2 PM and 5 PM on Sunday, September 25, at Shahdab Yazd’s hall.