Iran clinch Volleyball title

Manama : Iran under coach Reza Vakili Farjad defeated Russia 3-1 (25-20, 24-23, 21-25, 25-20) to claim its second title and gold medal as the 2017 FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa concluded yesterday.

It was tight in the first set with the match tied at 13-13, before the Iranians went 20-17 up and then took the first set.

In the second set, Russia under coach Nozarin Andrey had a early 7-4 lead, but Iran came back strongly to go 12-9 ahead and maintained its lead until Russia went 20-19 ahead, only for a late Iran rally to secure a 2-0 set lead.

The Russians took an early 5-3 lead in the third set and maintained its lead throughout to force a fourth set and thwart a straight set victory for Iran as the former two-time winners in 1999 and 2005 stayed in the match.

Fourth set action saw Russia take a 8-6 lead, then level at 8-8 before Iran go 14-12 ahead, and as the set progressed, both sides were locked at 16-16, 17-17 and 18-18, then the Iranians finished strongly winning seven of the next nine points to clinch the match and title.

Top scoring for Iran were Porya Yali (29 points) and Morteza Sharafi (19) and for Russia it was Maksim Sapozhkov (16) and Pavel Tetyukhin (15).

In the Bronze Medal match, Japan won in straight sets against South Korea 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18) with the top scorer for Japan being Kento Miyaura (16) and Mahiri Saeki (14) and for South Korea, Donghyeok Im (15) and Sungjin Lim (15).  

Meanwhile, hosts Bahrain defeated Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-23) to finish 13th overall in the 20-team tournament.

In the opening set, the Central Americans held a 8-6 lead, but Bahrain pegged backed the deficit and took the lead at 13-12 and finished strongly to go 1-0 up.

Second set action saw the Bahrainis overcome an early deficit and go 14-9 ahead at one stage and maintain its lead for a 2-0 set advantage.

The third set had Puerto Rico ahead at one 12-9, then Bahrain rallied and finished stronger to wrap up a 3-0 straight sets victory.

Top scoring for Bahrain was Hussain Thamer (16) and Mohammed Jassim (10) and for Puerto Rico Pedro Molina (18) and Gabriel Garcia (16).  

Bahrain were captained by Saif Yusuf, the libero is Hussain Abdulla and the rest of the squad comprises Sayed Mohammed Al Abbar, Jawher Rashed, Mohammed Jassim, Mohammed Haroon, Hassan Haider, Hussain Thamer, Hassan Mohammed, Mahmood Abdulhussain, Yousif Saif and Sayed Yousuf Ashoor.

Other scores: Classification (5th-6th): 

France (Celestin Cardin, 17, Remi Bassereau, 10) bt Egypt (Abdelrahman Elhossiny Eissa, 10). 

(7th-8th): Czech Republic (Marek Sotola, 21, Jan Svoboda, 15) bt Brazil (Victor Alekander Almeida, Cardoso, 25, Joao Cordeiro Franck, 17) 3-2 (25-20, 18-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-9). 

(9th-10th): Italy (Lorenzo Cortesia, 15, Davide Gardini, 12) bt China (Yu Du, 7) 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-20). 

(11th-12th): Turkey (Adis Lagumdzija, 20, Batuhan Avci, 15) bt Argentina (Federico Jose Sela, 19, Luciano Vicentin, 11) 3-1 (27-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-18). 

(15th-16th): USA (Joel Schneidmiller, 22) bt Cuba (Lazero Yoelvis Brunet Llanes, 17, Victor Ramon Andreu Flores, 16) 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 26-24).

Final positions: 

Gold: Iran, Silver: Russia, Bronze: Japan, 4. South Korea, 5. France,  6. Egypt, 7. Czech Republic, 8. Brazil, 9. Italy, 10. China, 11. Turkey,  12. Argentina, 13. Bahrain, 14. Puerto Rico, 15. USA, 16. Chile,  17. Poland, 18. Mexico, 19. Chile, 20. Tunisia.