Iran wins 16th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship
The final of the 16th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship took place on September 29 in Tehran, Iran at Azadi Hall No.1 between Iran and China. Four long sets were required before Iran came out on top as the winners by set scores of 22-25,
25-18, 25-19 and 25-16.
With the recent win, the Iranians have been able to earn themselves a ticket into the FIVB World Cup that is scheduled to take place in November and last until December. The top three teams of the World Cup will earn the honour of moving on to the London
2012 Olympics. The sole goal of the Iranians will be to make their way up to the top three of the World Cup so they get the chance to be a part of the prestigious international sporting event next year.
Before the final match started, the Iranian coach, Julio Velasco, said that earning gold at home may prove to be a difficult task but his team was ready to perform well under pressure and they proved it by delivering a win.
The Iranians played better than the Chinese in almost all aspects of the game but particularly had the upper hand in their attacking skills. The Chinese block could not do much in stopping the Iranians from scoring points from their relentless kills. However,
the Chinese put on a good show in the first set of the match by trying hard to overcome the strong attacking of the Iranians But they could not repeat the feat in the next three sets.
The first set of the match started off in an even fashion but as the game progressed, the Chinese were seen to have the upper hand. China was able to get the lead but Iran did not let them get too far and remained close behind. Before long, the Chinese
had bagged the first set of the match at 25-22.
The loss of the first set of the game triggered the Iranians into action and they were able to come out strong in the second set. Once they had the lead, Iran did not let go of the advantage until they had bagged the second set at 25-18. After the second
set win, the Iranians played the third and the fourth set in a strong manner as well and won them at 25-19 and 25-16.
The player that did the most damage in the game for Iran was Amir Ghafour as he was able to score important points at crucial moments giving his team the win.
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