Russians defeat Iran volleyball players in Rio 2016 Olympics
Iran men's national volleyball team has fallen victim to European powerhouse Russia in its last match at the preliminary round of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
On Monday, the Iranian squad lost out to the London 2012 Summer Olympics gold medalists in straight sets 3-0 (25-23, 25-16 and 25-20) in a Pool B match at the indoor Ginásio Gilberto Cardoso arena in the northern Maracanã neighborhood of Rio.
Maxim Mikhaylov led for Russia with 18 points, including three blocks and one ace, while Motjaba Mirzanjapour was the best Iranian scorer with 15 points.
Iran men's national volleyball team is scheduled to face Pool A top team Italy on Wednesday.
“We played better in the first set than the other two, when Russia made fewer mistakes and played better than us,” Iran coach Raul Lozano said.
He added, “It is very important for Iran to move into the second round since it is their first time in the Olympics. It is very clear that Italy is the favorite. If they underplay and we play up, we can surprise them. We will go out to give a good try, and who knows what could happen. Maybe Italy faces some problems with the pressure, and we make the most of it.”
“We didn’t play the way we do. I don’t know the reason. I hope we can do that against Italy in our next match and advance to the third round,” Iranian volleyball player Shahram Mahmoudi said.
The volleyball tournament at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil started on August 6 and will finish on August 21.
The Islamic Republic of Iran was in Pool B with Argentina, Cuba, Egypt, Poland and Russia.
Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Mexico and the United States were drawn in Pool A.
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