Indonesia's Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi won the title in the men's Asian Volleyball Champions League after defeating Iran's Foolad Sirjan 3:1 (25:20, 24:26, 25:23, 25:23) in the final in Pontianak.
The great hero of the evening was the Malian Noumory Keita, who played a phenomenal match and literally carried the Indonesian team to gold. The opposite hitter, who is expected to receive an Italian passport soon, finished with an impressive 38 points and was deservedly named MVP of the final phase.
The Iranian team, which included Bulgarian national player Alex Nikolov, can seriously regret the missed opportunity. Foolad was very close to taking a 2:1 lead in sets, but two wrong decisions by the setter at the end of the third set tilted the scales in favor of the hosts.
Nikolov played a strong match and finished with 12 points, including 3 aces. The Bulgarian outside hitter scored a number of key points in the most tense moments of the match.
In the second set, an ace by Nikolov set the tone for the Iranians, and subsequently, Foolad dramatically won the set after extra points. The last point in the set came after a block against Keita for 26:24, tying the score.
The third set proved to be a turning point. At 22:21 for Foolad, Nikolov scored his eighth point in the match, and shortly after made it 23:22 for the Iranian team. Instead of closing the set, the Iranians made two consecutive inaccuracies in their game organization, which allowed Jakarta to turn the score around and take a 2:1 lead.
The fourth set again started excellently for Alex Nikolov, who opened with an ace. Foolad took a 4:1 lead, but the Indonesian champion gradually equalized and then turned it around to 10:7. In the decisive moments, Nikolov again took responsibility and scored for 21:20, which was also his 12th point in the match, after which he left the game. At the end, Keita once again demonstrated his immense class. The Malian gave Jakarta a 23:22 lead, and then secured the first match point. It was he who ended the dispute with a powerful ace, sealing the final 25:23 and bringing the title to the Indonesian club.

The key difference came in attack and from serve, where the Indonesian team was significantly more effective. Jakarta scored 10 more points in attack and 3 more aces, and Keita's dominance compensated for the higher number of their own errors.
The statistics perfectly show Jakarta's dependence on Keita. The Malian scored 38% of all his team's points. For Foolad, the game was more evenly distributed, but the lack of a finishing blow in the most crucial rallies proved decisive. Alex Nikolov, in turn, confirmed the impressions from his strong season with another stable performance at a high international level.

photos: screenshotvolleyballworld.com