2020 Men's Olympic Volleyball Qualifiers: India begin campaign with three-set loss against Qatar

The Indian men's volleyball team began their quest for a spot in the Olympics on a disappointing note as they fell to a 25-22, 25-20, 25-23 loss against Qatar in their opening match of the 2020 Men's Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournament taking place in Jiangmen, China.

Facing off against familiar foes from the Asian Volleyball Championships held in September last year, the Men in Blue were put to test by Qatar, as despite boasting of some big names such as Mohan Ukkrapandian, GS Akhin, Jerome Vinith among others, the Indian team could not put in a match-winning performance.

While a bulk of the points was scored on the attacking front, the Indian blockers could not make too much of an impact as barring Akhin, who scored three points, only two more block points were accounted for by the Indians, with Jerome Vinith and Mohan Ukkrapandian accounting for one each.

However, there were a few positives for India as the spikes from the attackers were on point, with Jerome Vinith (12), Akhin (10), and Amit (8) emerging as the top point-scorers from the match.

From Qatar's perspective, an all-round performance was their biggest positive as Geraldo Da Silva (17), Nadir Sadikh (13), Belal Abunbot (12), and Ibrahim (11) combined to consistently pick up points and collect the win in the end.

India to face South Korea on 8th January

Post a loss from their opening game, the Men in Blue will be keen on bouncing back to winning ways and staying in contention for the top spot when they face off against South Korea tomorrow, 8th January.