Seemingly on cruise mode, Pakistan, for some strange reason, took their feet off the pedal against defending champions Canada in a crucial Group ‘B’ encounter of the second Commonwealth Volleyball Championships here.
Having won the first two sets with a minimum of fuss, Pakistan suddenly lost the plot to give Canada a look-in. In a must-win situation to stay in contention for a place in the semifinals, the champions came up with a splendid show to take the third set and raise visions of a comeback at the Netaji Indoor stadium on Tuesday.
But Canada's fightback didn't last for long. The Pakistani spikers found their touch after the third set debacle to send the reigning champions crashing out of the tournament.
The 25-21, 25-21, 16-25, 25-16 victory, their second in as many matches, earned Pakistan a place in the knockout semifinals from Group ‘B’. Joining them in the last four stage from the group were South Africa. The Proteas had outplayed New Zealand 3-0 in an earlier encounter.
Later in the evening, Nigeria -- back after being scratched -- were outclassed by the lowly Bangladesh. The travel-weary Nigerians lost 28-30, 16-25, 23-25. They have to win the remaining three matches to keep their hopes of a semifinal berth alive.
Earlier, barring some mid-match blues, Pakistan hardly put a foot wrong in the one-hour, 25-minute encounter against the second-string Canada team. Young Naseer Ahmed, the spearhead of the Pakistani team, led the scoring charts for Pakistan.
The 23-year-old was unstoppable in attack, making winners at will. The Canadian defence was mute witness to his onslaught. If not making those thundering kills at the net, he was running the opposition defence ragged with his power-packed jump serves.
With the secondline attacker Sanaullah coming up with the goods, and their centre-blockers thwarting the Canadian offence at the net, Pakistan pocketed the first two sets with ease.
Canadian coach brought in Gavin Schmitt for the off-colour Toont je van Lankvelt. Gavin joined forces with key spiker Mark Dodds and the duo's splendid assault had Pakistan running for cover in the third set. The challengers were also guilty of committing far too many errors.
The third set was over in a jiffy. Unfortunately, the Canadians couldn't maintain the tempo and just rolled over in the fourth set. The wounded Pakistanis came back at the champions hard to wrest control and closed out the match in the fourth set.
South Africa win
Despite being far from impressive, South Africa carried far too many guns for the hapless Kiwis. Coach Hamid Elwassimy kept Andile Masinga on the bench and tried out various combinations.
The young guns did not disappoint. Though the Kiwis surprised them early in the second set, the Proteas were far superior. They survived the testing period before closing out the match in straight sets.
"I'm happy with the performance," said the South African coach. "We were just trying out different combinations."
Results:
Group A: Bangladesh by Nigeria 30-28, 25-16, 25-23.
Group B: South Africa bt New Zealand 25-19, 25-21, 25-22; Pakistan bt Canada 25-21, 25-21, 16-25, 25-16.
Today's matches: 12.00 noon: Australia vs Nigeria; 2.00 pm: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka; 4.00 pm: Pakistan vs South Africa; 6.00 pm: India vs Nigeria .