Iran clinch FIVB U21 World title

Iran were crowned champions of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship 2019, which came to a thrilling close yesterday night at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa. The Iranians clinched the coveted title after breaking the hearts of previously undefeated Italy 3-2 (17-25, 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12) in an epic and hotly contested final that could have gone either way. The match lasted two-and-a-quarter hours as neither team would budge until Iran managed to execute the decisive plays in the end.

The result earned the Iranians their first-ever gold medals in the history of the biennial Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) junior competition. They had previously won a single bronze medal once in the past in 2007. Yesterday’s result was Italy’s first and only loss in the global event. They had to settle for the silver medals, which was their fourth in this competition. They have yet to win the gold. Meanwhile, Brazil captured the bronze medals after overcoming Russia 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-12). The Brazilians claimed the last step on the winners’ podium and took third place for the fifth time.

Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) President Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa was in attendance in the final, as were Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) Board Member and Women’s Sport Committee Chairwoman Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa and other high-ranking officials. Hosts Bahrain finished eighth overall after losing to Korea 1-3 (19-25, 23-25, 25-13, 23-25) in their final classification game. Argentina claimed fifth place after beating China, while finishing the competition ranked ninth to 16th, respectively, were the Czech Republic, Cuba, Poland, Canada, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Puerto Rico. In yesterday night’s final, the Italians had a brilliant start with their first-set win, but Iran were able to turn things around quickly and claim the next two sets for the match advantage. The fourth set saw Italy fighting for their lives and they were able to send things into the tie-breaker, which turned out to be a heart-stopping, see-saw affair.

11-apiece but then Iran took the next three points to take a 14-11 advantage. They then closed things out in the next two plays for the superb win. The trio of Porya Yali, team captain Amirhossein Esfandiar and Morteza Sharifi were the stars of the match. They brilliantly spearheaded the Iranians’ attack, with Yali scoring 22 points, Esfandiar adding 20 and Sharifi contributing 15. Kristian Gamba and Daniele Lavia had 17 apiece for Italy in the loss. The two teams split the main scoring categories, with Iran superior in attack (60-57) and serve (10-3). Italy were better in block (12-9) and opponents’ errors (30-25).