Tonga finish first and enter second round at Asian Men's Preliminary

25.04.09 18:49 Age: 1 yrs

Wellington, New Zealand, April 24, 2009 - Samoa put up a big upset on the last day of the World Championship Asian men's preliminary round here on Friday by snatching a dramatic victory over the hot favourite New Zealand while Tonga clinched their second win over Fiji in straight sets to advance to the second round.

The unexpected results created a three-way tie in the standings of Asian Pool A. Tonga, New Zealand and Samoa all collected five points from the records of two wins and one defeat. But Tonga emerged victorious by the slightest of points margins by winning seven sets and losing three sets. Their point ratio is 1.101 and set ratio is 2.333, New Zealand is 1.097 and 2.000 while Samoa is 0.984 and 1.200.

Thus Tonga emerged as the winners of the 2010 World Championship Asian Round Pool A and New Zealand placed second. New Zealand and Samoa was unfortunately eliminated from the next round. Fiji placed last with three defeats.

Tonga now move up to the Asia-F tournament in Taipei, from May 22 to 24, joining teams from Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and another team which will be promoted by the First Round tournament to be played in Oman.

In the last match of the day and also the tournament, Samoa showed a never say die attitude to come from two sets down to pull of a stunning win over New Zealand in a five setter that took more than two hours. The largest margin between the teams over the five sets was only three points and the spectators were on the edge of their seats for every point of the marathon match.

The top scorer for the match was Afa Lauvai of Samoa with 25 points followed closely by Faaeteete Sua with 22 points. New Zealand's top point scorer was Ben Glue with 17 points.

The first set was a tight battle with the lead changing throughout the set. New Zealand were the first to reach 20 and managed to maintain a slim lead and win the set 25-22. In the second set Samoa established an early lead which they held all the way to 24-21. Benetti Schwalger, New Zealand captain, served New Zealand back into the game and combined for some huge blocks as the Kiwis stole the set 26-24.

Trailing 0-2 Samoa did not give up and fought back strongly, taking a small lead in the third set and with a large contingent of Samoans in the crowd the team responded with some kill blocks to take the set 26-24.

The Samoan momentum continued in the fourth set and in another close set and with the host team captain Benetti Schwalger injured the Samoans prevailed 26-24 to send the game into a deciding set.

Once again nothing could separate these two teams. Both showed their nerves and made errors at crucial points and at a match point down New Zealand were unable to attack the ball on their reception giving Samoa a swing to win the match. The final score was 16-14 and the match 3-2 to Samoa.

In an earlier match, the Tongan Men's team defeated Fiji 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21). Both teams fought hard but it was Tonga who displayed the bigger fire power.

"I was very happy with how the team played over the tournament. Volleyball is starting to take off in Tonga and hopefully we can come back bigger and better in the future," said Sione Fonua of Tonga.

The top scorer for the game was Qilukeisawa Elliott of Fiji with 12 points. For Tonga, Soane Vaipulu top scored with 11 points. John Alatini also had a strong hitting game with 9 kill spikes.

The Tongan team was to strong for the Fijians in the first set, and raced out to a 14-7 lead. The Tonga heat stayed on and with 10 points by Isikeli Tolotu they closed out the first set.

Tonga rolled on through the second set, racing out to the 12-4 lead. Fiji was not to be counted out though and late in the set they held off 4 set points before Tonga closed out the set with a big pipe attack from John Alatini. The third set remained even for the first 20 points and then once again Tonga eased ahead to take the game 25-21 and the match 3-0 in 69 minutes.

Final standings:
1. Tonga W2 L1 Pts5
2. New Zealand W2 L1 Pts5
3. Samoa W2 L1 Pts5
4. Fiji W0 L3 Pts3

The complete results:
New Zealand vs. Fiji 3-0 (25-21,25-17,25-17) Tonga vs. Samoa 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-17) Samoa vs.Fiji 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-20),
New Zealand vs. Tonga 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 34-32, 25-21) Tonga vs. Fiji 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21)
New Zealand vs. Samoa 2-3 (25-22, 26-24, 24-26, 24-26, 14-16)

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The unexpected results created a three-way tie in the standings of Asian Pool A. Tonga, New Zealand and Samoa all collected five points from the records of two wins and one defeat. But Tonga emerged victorious by the slightest of points margins by winning seven sets and losing three sets. Their point ratio is 1.101 and set ratio is 2.333, New Zealand is 1.097 and 2.000 while Samoa is 0.984 and 1.200. Thus Tonga emerged as the winners of the 2010 World Championship Asian Round Pool A and New Zealand placed second. New Zealand and Samoa was unfortunately eliminated from the next round. Fiji placed last with three defeats. Tonga now move up to the Asia-F tournament in Taipei, from May 22 to 24, joining teams from Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and another team which will be promoted by the First Round tournament to be played in Oman. In the last match of the day and also the tournament, Samoa showed a never say die attitude to come from two sets down to pull of a stunning win over New Zealand in a five setter that took more than two hours. The largest margin between the teams over the five sets was only three points and the spectators were on the edge of their seats for every point of the marathon match. The top scorer for the match was Afa Lauvai of Samoa with 25 points followed closely by Faaeteete Sua with 22 points. New Zealand's top point scorer was Ben Glue with 17 points. The first set was a tight battle with the lead changing throughout the set. New Zealand were the first to reach 20 and managed to maintain a slim lead and win the set 25-22. In the second set Samoa established an early lead which they held all the way to 24-21. Benetti Schwalger, New Zealand captain, served New Zealand back into the game and combined for some huge blocks as the Kiwis stole the set 26-24. Trailing 0-2 Samoa did not give up and fought back strongly, taking a small lead in the third set and with a large contingent of Samoans in the crowd the team responded with some kill blocks to take the set 26-24. The Samoan momentum continued in the fourth set and in another close set and with the host team captain Benetti Schwalger injured the Samoans prevailed 26-24 to send the game into a deciding set. Once again nothing could separate these two teams. Both showed their nerves and made errors at crucial points and at a match point down New Zealand were unable to attack the ball on their reception giving Samoa a swing to win the match. The final score was 16-14 and the match 3-2 to Samoa. In an earlier match, the Tongan Men's team defeated Fiji 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21). Both teams fought hard but it was Tonga who displayed the bigger fire power. "I was very happy with how the team played over the tournament. Volleyball is starting to take off in Tonga and hopefully we can come back bigger and better in the future," said Sione Fonua of Tonga. The top scorer for the game was Qilukeisawa Elliott of Fiji with 12 points. For Tonga, Soane Vaipulu top scored with 11 points. John Alatini also had a strong hitting game with 9 kill spikes. The Tongan team was to strong for the Fijians in the first set, and raced out to a 14-7 lead. The Tonga heat stayed on and with 10 points by Isikeli Tolotu they closed out the first set. Tonga rolled on through the second set, racing out to the 12-4 lead. Fiji was not to be counted out though and late in the set they held off 4 set points before Tonga closed out the set with a big pipe attack from John Alatini. The third set remained even for the first 20 points and then once again Tonga eased ahead to take the game 25-21 and the match 3-0 in 69 minutes. Final standings: 1. Tonga W2 L1 Pts5 2. New Zealand W2 L1 Pts5 3. Samoa W2 L1 Pts5 4. Fiji W0 L3 Pts3 The complete results: New Zealand vs. Fiji 3-0 (25-21,25-17,25-17) Tonga vs. Samoa 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-17) Samoa vs.Fiji 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-20), New Zealand vs. Tonga 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 34-32, 25-21) Tonga vs. Fiji 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21) New Zealand vs. Samoa 2-3 (25-22, 26-24, 24-26, 24-26, 14-16) Back	News in Brief News in Brief Beach volleyball: Internationals outmanoeuvre NZ pairs in finals Kiwis undone in beach volleyball finals Bay's boom juniors test award judges Morgan Is AVSR Player Of Week ‘The Sams’ finish 5th at Under 21 World Beach Volleyball Championships