Winning a victory was vital for them to go into the next round and Iranian volleyball players managed to defeat Serbia 3-1 in a thrilling match on Sunday night.
Garnering 15 points out of 7 games, Iranian coach Slobodan Kovac’s players waited for the other two matches of their rivals in Pool E hoping for Argentina to beat USA so that they could go up.
There was great joy when Argentina, coached by Julio Velasco, claimed a precious victory over its tough opponent, the US. Argentina had no chance of advancing for the next round as it had not collected enough points in the last six games; however, Argentina prevailed in the five-setter against the US, ending the latter’s run in the competitions.
Valorous Velasco
The former Iran volleyball team coach, Velasco, once again helped Iran, not letting the Americans grab more than one point from the game. While in charge, the renowned Argentinean coach led Iran to be crowned champion in two consecutive editions of the Asian Championship. Furthermore, coached by Velasco, Iran had bagged the 9th rank in the 2013 World League, a good result for the team at that time when they were just at the beginning of their way to glory.
Later in the night, as Poland defeated France 3-2, Iran secured third place, which allowed them to compete with five giants of world volleyball in the third round of this year’s edition of the competitions.
Earlier last week, Iran had thrashed Argentina and Australia in the second round. Their only defeat was to Poland, the host, in a close match as they lost 3-2.
Previously in the first round, Iran had a head start as they won their game against Italy. In the following match, through a brilliant performance in a breathtaking game with the US, the 2014 World League champion, Iranian players showcased their potentials and proved their worth as world powers. In the rest of the matches, Iran easily beat Belgium and Puerto Rico. With an overall score of 11 to stand in the second place in Pool D with just one point less than France.
First Time in History
This is the first time since Iran’s first presence in the World Championship that the team reached not only the second round, but to everyone’s surprise, the third round, where the best volleyball teams compete to gain the top title. Iran’s four-time attendance in the World Championship since 1970 has not yet brought significant achievement to the country, with no better than two times standing in the 21st place and two 19th rankings.
Third Round
Following the completion of the exciting FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Poland 2014 second round, the emotions remained high as the drawing of lots for the third round was held in Atlas Arena in an awesome atmosphere. France and Brazil, as pool leaders, were placed as the first teams of Pools G and H respectively. The other four teams - hosts Poland, Russia, Iran and Germany were put together in the same bowl. With the lots drawn, Iran was placed with France and Germany in Pool G, and host Poland saw itself in the ‘death group’ together with the world number one Brazil and Russia in Pool H.
The third round will be over in three days starting from September 16. The first two teams of each group will play the semi-final matches.
The volleyball championship began on August 30 and will end on September 21.
