The Iranian men’s national volleyball team has ended its campaign at the Asian section of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship qualification on a high note, and eased past Qatar in its last encounter.
On Monday evening, the Iranian squad, which had already booked its ticket for next year’s world championship, overpowered Qatar 3-0 (25-22, 25-19 and 25-18) at Hossein Rezazadeh Hall in the northwestern Iranian city of Ardabil.
“We tried to deliver our best performance throughout this tournament, and had great respect for all the participating teams. Even though we knew that Qatar’s quality on the court did not match Iran’s, we played a thrilling game,” Iran head coach Igor Kolaković said after the match.
“Today, I fielded players who had trained hard for the games, but did not have the chance to play in previous fixtures. I extend my thanks to the spectators, because they helped us get great joy out of all our games. I hope to travel to Ardabil again,” he added.
“We are so happy that we started off the tournament in a good fashion, continued powerfully and finished it well. Through effective teamwork, we could clinch four victories and advance to the world championship. We express our gratitude to all people, who supported the Iranian men’s national volleyball team,” Iran’s captain Saeid Marouf commented.
The Asian section of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, which is to be held in Italy and Bulgaria.
The Islamic Republic of Iran was in Pool A with China, Kazakhstan, Qatar and South Korea. Iran and China secured their spots in the the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship as the top two finishers of the pool.
Australia, Chinese Taipei, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand were in Pool B. Japan and Australia also booked their tickets for the world championship.