Iran reach first final and Serbia still in contention while Cuba take Group 3 gold

Iran booked their place in the World League final for the first time in their history with a convincing 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) victory over Poland in Tehran on Sunday evening.

The result means Iran move level on points with Italy at the top of Pool A and look forward to a double-header with bottom-placed Poland in the final pool matches (4-5 July).

“When we started the World League with two defeats, nobody believed in my team but we proved that we have the quality to go through,” said Iran coach Slobodan Kovac. “It’s important that we win our next matches in Poland and finish top of the group.”

The Iranian team gave notice of their intentions by racing into a 4-0 lead in the first set and, despite a solid start from Poland in set two, never looked like relinquishing their advantage at the Azadi Sports Complex.

A hard-fought third set came to an end when the home team took four successive points to settle the match thanks to a towering spike from Amir Ghafour.

In Pool B, Serbia kept their hopes alive of a place in the final with a straightforward 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-14) win over Bulgaria in Nis. Serbia now sit one point behind second-placed Russia going into the final round of matches.

Results elsewhere on week six mean France are still dreaming of qualifying for the final six in Firenze (16-20 July) thanks to a powerful 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16) win over Argentina.

Led by top scorer Mory Sidibé, with 13 points, the result means that France qualify for Group 2’s final four in Sydney (11-13 July), although coach Laurent Tillie says his side “have to improve in many areas” if they are to finish among the honours.

They could be joined in Australia by the Netherlands, who had to work hard to earn a 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 18-25, 25-19, 15-9) victory over Korea at the Chungmu Indoor Gymnasium in Daejeon.

Inspired by the strong serving of Robin Overbeeke and the quick attacks of Michael Parkinson, the Netherlands kept the faith after seeing their 1-0 lead from the first set turn into a 2-1 deficit. They finished the day sitting on top of Pool E.

Iran’s Adel Gholami spikes against the Polish one-man block by Piotr Nowakowski
Photo Credit: FIVB Media

GROUP 3 GOLD FOR CUBA, CHINA TAKE BRONZE

There was gold for Cuba in Group 3 as they won a gruelling five-setter (26-24, 19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 16-14) against hosts Turkey to edge the final match in Bursa.

The Turks had been the only team to beat Cuba in this year’s World League, in the Intercontinental Round, but despite their best efforts were unable to repeat that success on Sunday in front of a spirited home crowd.

Captain Rolando Cepeda led the way for Cuba with 28 points, ably supported by Santiago Uriarte (22), while Turkey top scorer was Toy Metin (17).

The bronze medal in Group 3 went to China, who had lost narrowly to Cuba in Saturday’s semifinal.

The Chinese, who had lost 3-0 to their Slovakian opponents 15 days earlier, dropped the first set but fought back to win 3-1 (21-25, 39-37, 25-23, 25-19), with victory in the second set – the longest in the competition so far – giving them a huge boost.

There was joy too for Japan. In their final FIVB Volleyball World League match of the season, Masashi Nambu’s side recovered from throwing away a two set advantage to record their first win, beating Germany 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 23-25, 17-15).

“Since this team started out a year-and-a-half ago we have suffered so much,” said Japan captain Yu Koshikawa, who scored 22 points for his side. “Now we have finally won, and we can see what winning feels like. I think it will accelerate our growth as a team.”

Italy and France continue winning streak in World League

Italy and France continued with their four-game winning streak on the second week of the FIVB Volleyball World League by beating Iran and Japan, respectively.

Italy scored another straight sets (27-25, 25-18, 25-22) victory against Iran on Sunday to lead in Pool A. With the two losses, Iran is now at the bottom of Pool A standings.

Both teams fought closely to the delight of the Verona crowd. Italy counted on their home fans while 1,000 Iranian fans also came to cheer for the visiting team.

Italy recovered from the pressure that the Iranian side applied late in the first frame, resulting to an extended set. The Italians’ excellent service game helped them to secure the second set after a strong start by the Iranians. Iran seized the lead before the second technical timeout but eventually slipped as Italy made some key replacements, with Jiri Kovar leading the charge. Kovar and Ivan Zaytsev’s outstanding offence in the third set positioned Italy to claim victory.

Kovar complemented Zaytsev’s scoring dexterity in the match with 11 points coming off from the attack line, two blocks and two aces. Zaytsev led Italy with 18 points.

“We have different resources, both our fundamentals and players helped guide the team’s victory,” said Italy coach Mauro Berutto. “Zaytsev was amazing today. We cannot fail in front of an audience like we had today, and I am glad we did not.”

Meanwhile, France showed control with their second 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-21) win over Japan in Montpellier to take the lead in Pool D standings.

France ruled the first and second sets as their intensity were unmatched by Japan. The Japanese side was tentative which allowed the French squad to easily swing the momentum to their side. Japan managed to bounce back in the third set but their attacks lacked intensity which allowed France to breakout in the match.

Mory Sidibé led all scorers with 18 points to extend the winning streak of France.

In Pool E, the four teams got even win-loss cards with one win and one loss each in their second week start. Korea bounced back from their first match setback in Eindhoven with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22) victory over hosts Netherlands. Tactical serving helped Korea’s young team to gain their first victory in this edition of the World League. Czech Republic likewise forced a draw with Portugal from their straight sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-22) triumph.

In other matches, Canada used home court advantage and defeated Finland in the tiebreaker (19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 15-11) to gain second spot in Pool C. Gavin Schmitt’s 28-point output lifted Canada to pull off a victory in the fifth set after a slow start.

Germany pulled-off a remarkable comeback after being down in the first two sets in another five-setter match (20-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-13) to draw with Argentina in Pool D and conclude the matches of the second week.

The third week of FIVB Volleyball World League 2014 continues on June 6 to 8.