MANILA, Philippines—China and Taiwan clobbered separate opponents Wednesday to settle for third and fifth places, respectively, in the 2014 Asian men’s club volleyball championship.
From fourth last year, China’s Baic Motor improved its placing after a 25-17, 25-14, 25-20 win over Kazakhstan’s Kondensat Zhaikmunay at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Naturalized player Wout Wijismans led the Chinese with 15 points, while Chunlong Liang, Fan Yang and Frederic Winters scoring 10 each.
“Today we did our best for our so many fans back home watching our team. We had our best performance against a good opponent,” said head coach Mu Li.
Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, defeated Iraq’s South Gas Club Sports, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19, but couldn’t help but feel disappointed for final placing.
“Today we played with good service and reception. But I think our performance this year is not that good. I hope we play better next year,” said Ke-Chou Chen as the Taiwanese slid from bronze to fifth.
Chien-Feng Huang finished with 11 points for the Chinese-Taipei while Ming-Chun Wang and Hung-Min Liu chipped in 10 markers apiece.
Iraq, on the other hand, also notched a better finish this year from seventh to sixth place but mentor Khalaf Abdul Sa Alaa wasn’t satisfied with their showing.
“Sixth place for me is no good,” Alaa said.
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