Men's Volleyball Club World Championship 2023 Points Table: Updated Standings after Ahmedabad Defenders vs Sir Sicoma Perugia
The Men's Volleyball Club World Championship 2023's group-stage campaign concluded at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday, December 8.
Sir Sicoma Perugia, Itambe Minas, Suntory Sunbirds, and Halkbank Spor Kulubu progressed as the four semi-finalists.
Defending champions Sir Sicoma Perugia topped the Pool A points table following a comprehensive 25-18, 25-19, and 25-11 win over hosts Ahmedabad Defenders. The Italian team won both matches with a 3-0 margin to account for six points.
Ahmedabad's loss also confirmed the qualification of Brazilian club Itambe Minas into the last-four stage. Itambe won and lost one game each in Pool B and is placed second with three points.
In one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, Halkbank Spor Kulubu upstaged four-time world champions Sada Cruzeiro Volei (Brazil) in three straight sets 26-24, 25-18 and 28-26.
The Contagem-based club was eliminated from the event even though they mustered a win against Sunbrids by a 3-2 margin on Thursday. However, the format of the competition rewards an extra point to the losing team if they can enforce the game to the fifth set.
Although SDC accounted for three points from two games, they missed the semi-final spot by the slightest point ratio. The Brazilian club's point ratio read 0.964 to HBK's 0.986.
Here are the points table of Pool A and Pool B after the completion of the group stage.
Ahmedabad Defenders became the first Indian club to feature in the World Championship
The FIVB Men's Volleyball Club World Championship is the most prestigious event for clubs across the world to showcase their supremacy every year. India participated in the annual event for the very first time on the virtue of being the hosts.
Ahmedabad Defenders were the champions of India's Prime Volleyball league in February this year and, thus, making the cut in the six-team event. Interestingly, the winner of the next Prime Volleyball season (2024) will play in the following edition of the World Championships.