The fairy tale of the officially 13-year-old and 210-centimeter-tall Mubarak Musa Tiik Madut received a rather harsh Japanese sequel.
After the Qatari volleyball player scored an incredible 40 points against India, Japan showed that the story would be completely different against them. The hosts crushed Qatar 3-0 (25:14, 25:13, 25:12) in the quarterfinals and did not allow their opponent to reach even 15 points in any of the three sets.
Before the match with the Japanese, the "13-year-old wonder" had already accumulated an impressive 81 points in three matches - 22 against Hong Kong, 19 against Vietnam, and 40 against India.
It was against the Indians that Madut had his most talked-about match - 35 points from attack, 3 blocks, and 2 aces. In the tie-break alone, he scored 15 of Qatar's 22 points, but his team dramatically lost 2-3 (28:26, 27:25, 23:25, 20:25, 22:24).
Against Japan, however, the sensation was put on hold. The hosts had clearly done their homework and left no room for intrigue - 25:14, 25:13, and 25:12.
Thus, Qatar dropped out of the medal contention and continues in the matches for places 5th to 8th.
And Madut? He is still 210 centimeters tall and officially born on November 24, 2012. That is - 13. At least this part of the fairy tale has not changed for now.