Iran sitting volleyball team beat old rival Bosnia and Herzegovina in a straight set victory to win the title of World Sitting Volleyball Championships in the Hague, the Netherlands, on Sunday.
Paralympic gold medalist Iran was crowned after beating the defending champion Bosnia 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-20) which was a repeat of the Paralympic Games final in Rio de Janeiro two years ago, Worldparavolley.org reported.
Playing in front of a boisterous full-house crowd, Iran, with Morteza Mehrzad-Selakjani at his dominant best, was too good for Bosnia which collected its sixth World Championships medal – three gold, two silver and one bronze – from six appearances.
Iran won the Sitting Volleyball World Championships in 1985, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2010.
The battle over the gold medal in World Championships and Paralympic Games in the past 30 years has always been a duel between Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The team has appeared in nine editions of the World Championships (only 12 versions have been held so far) and won the title seven times. Iran lost the finals in 2006 to Bosnia.
Iran took six gold and two silver medals in the past eight versions of Summer Paralympic Games. The national team won Paralympic gold medals in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008 and 2016.
As finalists in the 2018 Sitting Volleyball World Championships, both teams qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Iran defeated Ukraine in a straight set victory in the semifinal on Saturday.
In the run for the bronze, Brazil won its second World Championship medal – after silver in 2014 – by beating Ukraine in a tight match 3-0 (28-26, 25-23, 27-25) in the play off.
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