Iranian Pair Settles for Silver

Iranian beach volleyball pair won a silver medal at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Games in Aydin, Turkey, on Sunday.
The pair Rahim Raoufi and Abolhamed Mirza-Ali faced Stefan Basta and Lazar Kolaric of Serbia in the final game and submitted to a 2-1 loss to take silver, Iran Volleyball Federation reported on its Persian website.
Iranians had hopes for a gold but had to settle for silver, which is their second medal as a duo, after the bronze they claimed in Satun, Malaysia, last month. Raoufi has one more silver and one more bronze in his record but with a different partner.
Raoufi and Mirza-Ali, who had impressed throughout the previous stages of the competition, won the first set of the final match 21-16 and were two points ahead of their opponents near the end of the second set 20-18.
“We held a close competition against the Serbs,” Raoufi said. “Our rivals won a silver medal in the Swiss Three Star World Tour, which means they were technically superior.”