Iran women’s national deaf futsal team has been defeated at the quarterfinal of the 2015 Deaf Futsal World Cup in Thailand, going down to Japan.
The Iranian side slumped to the Asian powerhouse 2-6 in a 5th-to-8th-place classification match played at the indoor Nimibutr Stadium in the Thai capital city of Bangkok.
The hearing-impaired female athletes will return to action on Friday, when they will take on the hosts in a classification match for the 7th to 8th places.
Earlier in the day, Iranian men’s national deaf futsal team suffered a narrow 1-2 loss against Russia in its last group stage fixture.
The Persians made a sound start and applied a spell of pressure on the Russian side to open the scoring. Despite some fightback from Russia, Iran’s Mostafa Heydari seized a favorable opportunity in the 20th minute and nailed the opener for the Islamic Republic just before the break.
Russian sportsmen returned to action refreshed and seemingly regained composure after the breather. They made use of their strengths and resources, and Vladislav Zorin scored the equalizer nine minutes into the second period.
Russian futsal players maintained momentum, and Nikolai Voronin scored the winner five minutes later in the 34th minute.
Iran men’s national deaf futsal squad will take on the Netherlands in a semifinal showdown at the Nimibutr Stadium on Thursday.
The 2015 Deaf Futsal World Cup opened in Bangkok on November 20, and will wrap up on November 28.