Arabi enter final

QATAR League champions Al Arabi survived a match point in the fourth set to beat Japan’s Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza 25-19, 19-25, 23-25, 28-26, 15-9 and stormed into the 17th Asian Clubs Volleyball Championship final in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on Tuesday.

In the final on Wednesday, they will take on Iran’s Sarmayeh Bank who trounced China’s Shanghai Golden Age 28-26, 25-16, 25-21 in the other last-four encounter.

It will be Arabi’s fourth Asian Clubs final and second in a row. They triumphed in 2012 and finished runners-up in 2010 and 2015.

Arabi, the only Qatari club to have won the continental competition, was dominant throughout the group stage, where they maintained a clean record.

However, they found the Japanese tough to break down.

After winning the first set 25-19, Arabi took their foot off the pedal allowing Toyoda to come back into the game.

Toyoda, backed by powerful smashes from Igor Omrcen, himself a former Arabi player, drew level in the second set, took the third, and almost settled the issue in the fourth.

However, Arabi regained their form in the nick of time and coach Mawia Alajnaf’s decision to replace an off-colour Leonardo Vissotto with Miguel Dalmau turned out to be the masterstroke as the latter penetrated the Toyoda defence with his powerful serves and attacks.

“The match wasn’t easy at all. The opponents were good,” said Mawia.