JEDDAH, 11 September 2007 — What a difference 9 months make. After clinching the bronze medal in the 15th Asian Games men’s volleyball competition in December Saudi national volleyball team could only finish a disappointing 12th in the 14th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The tournament that attracted 17 countries ended on Sunday with Australia winning the title. Japan placed second, Korea third and China fourth. Rounding out the top 10 were Thailand fifth, Iran sixth, Indonesia seventh, Chinese Taipei eighth, India ninth and Kazakhstan 10th.
Qatar, another Gulf team to see action in the event, ended up a notch above Saudi Arabia in 11th position. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Maldives and Kuwait occupied the 13th to 17th positions in that order.
“We deserve the title because we have played 10 matches since the qualifying round with a record of 9-1. We have to accept other results which allow us to win the championship,” Russel Borgeaud, head coach of Australian told the press after the closing ceremony.
“We have competed since 1975 in Australia and had never won a single title. We are happy to win the title at last,” he said.
For the Saudis it was all downhill after being relegated to the consolation pool after missing a spot in the quarterfinals.
After beating Maldives in straight sets 25-13, 25-11,25-21 to open the round to decide the 9th to 17th places they lost the matches in straight sets against Qatar 25-23,25-17,25-23, India 25-22,25-22,25-19 and Kazakhstan 25-23, 25-19, 25-22.
