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.
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.”
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