News / Sports

Iran junior volleyball team finishes 2nd in Asia championship

Monday, 18 July 2016 12:29 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 July 2016 12:30 PM ]

The photo shows a view of the final match between Iran (players in dark blue) and China at the 18th edition of the Asian Men's U20 Volleyball Championship in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, on July 17, 2016.

The Iran national team has ended its campaign at the 18th edition of the Asian Men's U20 Volleyball Championship in Chinese Taipei, and finished as the vice-champion of the tournament after conceding an unexpected defeat against China in the title clash.

On Sunday, the Iranian squad, which had Javad Karimi, Esmaeil Talebi, Amir Hossein Esfandiyar, Esmaeil Mosafer, Tayyen Eini, Ali Asghar Mojarrad and captain Rasoul Aghchehli in its initial array, lost to the East Asian side 2-3 (25-27, 25-21, 29-31, 25-18 and 13-15) in its last encounter at the indoor Kaohsiung Arena in the southwestern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.

The Persians got off to a promising start in the opening set, and raced to an 8-5 lead at the first technical timeout.

The Chinese volleyball players could establish themselves and brought the game under control after the interval, and were up 16-17 at the second technical timeout.

The Iranian team’s errors increased later in the set, offering China the opportunity to grab it by 27 points to 25.

The Iranian juniors sought to make up for the first set loss and recorded an 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout of the second set. They ultimately closed the set at 25-21.

The Iranian outfit maintained its lead in the third set, and notched up an 8-2 lead at the first technical timeout. The Iranians then kept scoring and went into the second technical timeout 16-13.

The photo shows a view of the final match between Iran (players in dark blue) and China at the 18th edition of the Asian Men's U20 Volleyball Championship in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, on July 17, 2016.

The defending champions, however, committed a raft of individual mistakes afterward and slumped to the Chinese opponents 29-31.

Iran soon achieved control of the fourth set, and utilized everything at its disposal to recover from the bitter loss in the third set. It won the set 25-18.

Chinese athletes stole the show in the decider, and delivered an outstanding performance to eventually finish the final set 15-13.

The 18th edition of the Asian Men's U20 Volleyball Championship kicked off in Kaohsiung on July 9 and wrapped up on July 17.

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