Pakistan kicks off with a 3-2 win against Thailand at Asian Volleyball Championship

• Pakistan lost two alternative sets in the game before bagging the victory by winning last set.
• Thailand earned seven consecutive points to take the lead at 2-1 in the third set.
• Pakistan's fate in the match against Hong Kong on Monday will decide its position in the knockout stage.

KARACHI: Pakistan kicked off with a 3-2 win over a better-ranked Thailand in the Asian Volleyball Championship at the opening of the tournament taking place in Japan.

The credit of Pakistan’s win against Thailand goes to the collective effort by the team that helped it make several comebacks and win the game eventually.

The team had lost the first set at 22-25, despite its lead at 10-7, and went down again at 10-3 in the second set. However, it managed to make a remarkable comeback to level the match at 1-1, winning the second set at 25-23.

If Pakistan hadn’t gone down at 21-25 in the third set despite leading at 21-18 at a point, they would have won it as well.

Meanwhile, the opponent team earned seven consecutive points to take the lead at 2-1 in the third set.

The 4th set between the two sides displayed a nail-biting contest when Pakistan made a comeback from being at 19-21 to the winning score 25-23 and levelled the game at 2-2.

At the end of the day, Pakistan that stands at world number 54 bagged the win at 3-2 against Thailand — the world number 41— by winning the final set at a score of 15-12.

The team will play against Hong Kong on Monday and its fate in the match will decide Pakistan’s position in the knockout stage.