Power Pinoys bank on Iraq win over Mongolia

Matches Saturday:

(MOA Arena)

12 noon - Iraq vs Mongolia

2 p.m. - Iran vs Lebanon

(Cuneta Astrodome)

2 p.m. - Kazakhstan vs Oman

4 p.m. - Hong Kong vs Qatar

6 p.m. - Papua New Guinea vs China

MANILA, Philippines – From being foes, PLDT Home TVolution Philippines will hope and pray for a victory by former conqueror Iraq South Gas Sports Club when the latter clashes with Mongolia Saturday in a match that could decide the Filipinos’ fates in the 2014 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship presented by PLDT Home Fibr at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

A couple of days after an impressive 25-13, 25-23, 25-13 bashing of Mongolia, the Power Pinoys fell back to earth after they were dealt a stinging 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 defeat at the hands of the Iraqis Thursday, which spoiled the former’s bid to advance to the next round.

Instead, the Phl was put in a bad situation as it could still be eliminated via tiebreak should Mongolia pull the rug from under Iraq in their duel set at 12 noon Saturday that will forge a three-way tie in Group A.

Phl coach Francis Vicente, however, feels nothing but confidence that Iraq will beat Mongolia, which will send them straight to the quarters.

“Iraq will beat Mongolia,” said Vicente.

In Friday’s Group B action, Japan’s Otia Miyoshi Weisse Adler dumped Vietnam’s Duc Long Gia Lai, 25-22, 22-25, 26-24, 25-21, to seal its first victory in this tournament staking a berth to the FIVB World Men’s Club Championship in Brazil next month.

Yuki Hosokawa led the Japanese’s attack by unloading 23 hits including 21 on kills as they finally claimed a win.

The Vietnamese fell to their third straight defeat.

“We played a very tough team and it was really a challenge,” said Japan coach Hiroyuki Furuta through an interpreter.

“There were mistakes in our reception, that’s the reason we struggled in some sets. We made adjustments towards the end though for us to recover fast,” he added.

It was not enough though to send Japan to the quarters as powerhouse teams Iran and Lebanon booked the only two slots staked in Group B as the two remained unscathed in two outings.

Egyptian import Mohamed Khattab scored 17 hits for Japan, even as Takuya Iguchi and Daisuke Omichi added 11 apiece.

Only six players scored for Vietnam with skipper Nguyen Huu Ha and Nguyen Van Hanh posting 18 points each, and Cao Xuan Thao and Nguyen Duy Quang finishing with 12 and 10 hits, respectively.

Japan dominated the match in attacks (64-57) and blocks (10-6).

The event is being supported by Mikasa, Healthway Medical, Maynilad, Gerflor Spurway, Senoh Equipment, STI, PSC, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, Pasay City Mayor Antonino Calixto and MMDA Chairman lawyer Francis Tolentino.

All games are televised live on TV5, the official broadcast partner of the AMCC. The tournament also has Magic 89.9, Wave 89.1, Jam 88.3, Play 99.5 and KLite 103.5 as radio partners.