JAKARTA, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- China lost to Pakistan 3-2 in a close game for the Asiad men's volleyball here on Thursday.

"Our players worked very hard. But our team was not in good form. And we also had some changes to the lineup," China coach Sheng Qiong explained about the loss after the match.

"No matter what the results were, we will still try our best to prepare for the next match," said Shen.

The scores of the five sets were 25-17, 26-28, 30-28, 19-25 and 16-18, respectively.

China won the first set 25-17 with ease, but the Pakistans came back strongly in the second set and the two sides took turns to lead till Pakistan got a string of three straight points to end the set 28-26.

The third set saw Pakistan continue the momentum while China struggled to catch up. But this time, it was China that turned the tide at the end with a string of three straight points and won narrowly 30-28.

In the fourth set, Pakistan opened with a 5-0 lead, and then enlarged the margin to 10-3. China failed to narrow the gap and ended the set 19-25, bringing the game to a tie-breaker.

In the final set, the two sides took turns to lead, and though China got the match point first, it was Pakistan that capitalized on the chance to win 18-16.

China's Li Liye topped the scoring chart with 39 points, followed by Pakistan's Aimal Khan. Four other Chinese players and two other Pakistan players scored in double figures.

China will play for the ninth place against Saudi Arabia on Friday.