Iran defeats Puerto Rico: FIVB Boys' Youth Volleyball World Championship
The Iranian and the Puerto Rican side were up against each other on August 21 in a FIVB Boys' Youth Volleyball World Championship match taking place in Argentinian city of Bahia Blanca. Interestingly, both the Puerto Ricans and the Iranians were out of running
for the gold medal before the start of the match. However, Iran was able to improve its record by adding a 3-0 win to its credit.
The Iranians dominated the Puerto Ricans in the first set of the game and earned a smothering win over their rivals. The Puerto Ricans stepped up their play in the second set but Iran was able to stride past them and win it by a comfortable margin. The Puerto
Ricans started the third set with determination and provided a challenge to the Iranians but the effort came in too late as Iran swept the Puerto Ricans at the following final set scores: 25-12, 25-15 and 25-19.
The coach of the Iranian side, Behrouz Ataei Nouri, gave these statements at the press conference after the match had reached its close: "We don't feel well, we haven't qualified. But this is our fault, since we left our destiny on the other matches. I also
feel bad for the match Spain played, because after they won the first set they changed the way they played. It's unfair.”
On the other hand, the Puerto Rican coach Ramon Lawrence expressed himself in these words: "Iran deserves recognition for the match. This team is still young, the players are not mature yet, but our goal is to get more experienced game after game.”
The first set of the match saw the Iranians take the lead early on at 8-6. The Puerto Ricans could not keep up with the pace of Iran as the gap between the two teams extended till 16-6. After that point, it was only a matter of time before the Iranians bagged
the opening set of the game at 25-12.
The second set of the game followed the same pattern as the previous one with the Iranians leading at 16-10 in the second technical time out. The Puerto Ricans could not step up their game and let the set slip out of their hands to give Iran a 2-0 advantage
gathered at a 25-15 second set win.
The third set got some energy out of the Puerto Ricans but the fighting spirit did not stay with them for long as Iran overtook their opponents to seal a win at 25-19.
The player that was able to register the highest number of points in the entire match was the Iranian Pourya Fayazi, who tallied 16 points for his team.
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