India finish ninth in Asian Volleyball Championship 2021

The Indian team finished a creditable ninth in the recently concluded Asian Volleyball Championship 2021, after they lodged a five-set win over Bahrain, at the Funabashi Arena, Japan on Sunday. India eventually won 3-2 (25-15, 25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 16-14) in the playoff for ninth place, according to a report on Olympics.com. 

Even though the Indian team took the first two sets without any problem, Bahrain came back in the match in the next two and shifted the momentum on their side. In fact in the fifth set too, they were leading 4-1, before India forced their way back in the clash.  

The Indian team had made a start to their campaign in the tournament with a straight-set loss against the same team, last week. The Indians also lost their Group matches against Qatar and Japan. 

From there, Indians went on to win four back-to-back matches -- against Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. After the tournament now, the Indian team is ranked world no. 71, while Bahrain has slipped to 80. 

In the previous edition of the tournament, India had finished eighth.