Iran crowned Asian U20 volleyball champions!
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Iran were last night crowned champions of the 21st Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship, hosted by Bahrain.
The Iranians successfully defended their crown after defeating India 3-1 (25-12, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15) in an exciting final, which marked the end of the 17-nation competition.
With the result, Iran won a record seventh title in the tournament’s history, including a third winners’ trophy in the last four editions. The Iranians have also played in the gold medal game in nine of the last 10 championships.
For India, it was their third silver medal in competition history. As the two finalists, Iran and India qualified for the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship 2023 as continental representatives.
Officials from the Asian Volleyball Confederation and the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) were in attendance for last night’s title-decider.
Following the final, the awards presentation and closing ceremony took place, with the top three teams receiving their respective trophies and medals.
A number of individual honours were also handed out. Iran’s Amir Mohammad Golzadeh was named the Most Valuable Player, and he also took home the Best Opposite Hitter award. The Best Outside Hitters were South Korea’s Yunsoo Lee and Thailand’s Kittipong Sangsak, while the Best Middle Blockers were India’s Dushyant Singh and Iran’s Norouzi Erfan.
India’s Chaudhary Sameer was named the Best Libero, while Iran’s Arshia Behnezhad was selected as the Best Setter. Meanwhile, claiming the bronze medals in the championship yesterday were South Korea, who needed to shrug off a slow start before powering to an impressive 3-0 (31-29, 25-16, 25-14) win against Thailand.
In Iran’s victory, the winners looked unbeatable in the first two sets, but India were able to extend the match in the third backed by their vibrant supporters who packed the BVA’s Isa bin Rashid Arena at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The Iranians recovered quickly and closed it out with a dominant fourth set. Golzadeh finished as the champions’ leading scorer with an impressive game-high 27 points. Yousef Kazemi Poshtpari added 18 points, while Pouria Hooseinkhanzadeh finished with 12, and captain Erfan nine.
Chaudhary Tanish paced India with 17 points, while Kumar Anan and Singh added six points apiece. Giri Harshir and Dagar Sachin chipped in with five points each. Iran head coach Gholamreza Momeni Moghadam commented after the final: “We have received our reward after five months of hard work.
“It was a very good final. In the third set, since my players are a little young, the atmosphere in the gym was a little higher. But we recovered in the fourth set, and we were able to seal the win. “Our target when we began preparing for this tournament was to be champions of the world; now we have taken the Asian gold medals, and we can focus on our long-term goal for the world championship.”
In South Korea’s win for third place, Yunsoo Lee was their top scorer with 15 points. They came away with their fourth bronze medal in the history of the competition. They also hold the record for most podium appearances at 13—six of which were in first place.
Libero Sunkyo Kang said after the match: “In the first set, we were a little nervous so we didn’t play very well. But as the game went on, we improved and we are happy to get the win.” Sunkyo also expressed his appreciation to the Kingdom of Bahrain for the warm welcome they received.
“From A to Z, the Bahrainis are so kind; it was a pleasure to have us in Bahrain and it is going to be a good memory.” Also yesterday, Bahrain clinched seventh place overall with a hard-earned 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12) victory over Pakistan. Husain Ehsan was in scintillating form for the hosts, scoring a tournament-best 36 points.
The Bahrainis’ seventh place-ranking is an improvement from the previous edition of the competition, when the nationals ranked ninth overall. Bahrain’s best finish was fourth in the 2014 tournament, while their lowest classification was 18th in 2004.
In the day’s fourth game, Saudi Arabia won ninth place overall to end the competition after defeating Iraq 3-1 (25-19, 11-25, 25-18, 25-18). Marwan Alhawasawi finished as their leading scorer with 19 points, while Hasan Taha scored 23 for the Iraqis.
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