Pakistan's stint at the Asian Central Zone Volleyball Championship is all but over after their second straight defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan in Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
After losing 3-0 to Iran on Friday, Pakistan received a 25-11, 25-22, 25-23 thrashing which diminished their hopes of qualifying for the final on September 20.
Kazakhstan wrapped up the first with ease as Pakistan failed to make an impact early on in the match. A power failure at the venue occurred as the Kazakhs were heading for second-set win but the 37-minute break gave Pakistan time to regroup and make a comeback in the set. The green spikers, however, lost the second set 22-25 despite showing an improved performance.
Pakistan's best show came in the third set, where at one time, they led the Kazakhs 16-12 but failed to extend the lead. Kazakhstan eventually won the third set 25-23 to record their first win of the tournament.
The Central Asians lost their first match against hosts India with a score of 25-18, 25-12, 25-22 on the opening day of the tournament.
Pakistan play their last match of the round-robin phase on Sunday, when they face hosts India and will look to restore some pride after a sorry display in their first two matches.
"India will not have an easy match tomorrow, we promise that," Pakistan's Brazilian coach Augusto Sabbatini was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
Meanwhile Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas said his team will go all-out for a win against the arch rivals and hoped results in the other matches would favour Pakistan, the PTI report added.
In the day's second match, Iran overcame India in a four-setter as the hosts wasted a 5-0 lead in the fourth set to go down. Iran won the match 25-16, 26-24, 23-25, 25-23 to become the only team to remain undefeated in the four-nation tournament.
Pakistan must now win their match against India and hope Kazakhstan lose to Iran to have any chance of qualifying for the final.
Pakistan's poor showing at the tournament does not come as a huge surprise as the team was still being gathered on Tuesday, when they finally received visa clearance from India.
“We are in the process of recalling members of the squad as they were sent home after rejection of visa applications,” a Pakistan Volleyball Federation official told Dawn.com on Tuesday, September 14. The tournament ends on September 20.
