Iran clinch U21 world title
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Iran were last night crowned champions of the 2023 FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship, which wrapped up in thrilling fashion in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Iranians clinched the coveted crown following a nail-biting five-set victory over Italy in the gold medal game. The final was a rematch of the title decider in the 2019 competition, also held in Bahrain, which was also won by the Iranians.
They have now clinched the U21 crown twice in the history of the event. This year’s 16-nation tournament was held under the patronage of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy president, General Sports Authority (GSA) chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) chief, His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Attending yesterday’s final were Ministry of Cabinet Affairs undersecretary and BOC vice president His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and GSA CEO Dr Abdulrahman Askar. Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and other high-ranking officials were also on hand. Joining Iran and Italy on the podium were Bulgaria, who clinched the bronze medals after beating Argentina in straight sets.
Meanwhile, a number of individual accolades were given out during the awards presentation. The Most Valuable Player award was presented to Amir Mohammad Golzadeh of Iran, who also took home the Best Opposite Hitter distinction. Iran’s Arshia Behnezhad was named Best Setter, while teammate Mobin Nasri took home one of the two Best Outside Hitter honours. The other was claimed by Mattia Orioli of Italy.
The Best Middle Blocker awards went to Filippo Bartolucci of Italy and Lazar Bouchkov from Bulgaria, while Gabriele Laurenzano of Italy came away with the Best Libero honour.
In last night’s final, the Iranians got off to a big start early and held on to take the one-set lead. Italy roared back in the second set and wrested away the advantage after three, but Iran proved their might and convincingly won set four to send the match to the tie-break.
There, they rode their momentum to the finish for the hard-earned 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-9) result. Golzadeh spearheaded Iran with 20 points, 16 of which were on attack. Outside hitter Khanzadeh Firouzjah Poriya Hossein added 18 points.
For the Italians, opposite spiker Alessandro Alberto Bovolenta scored 21 points, while Orioli added 17 markers, including four service winners. "I thank God; I am so happy to win this world championship trophy," said Golzadeh. "I wish the best to the Italian team; they played very well tonight in the final, but we are a very strong team.
We know our potential, and some of our stars can join the senior team." Italy head coach Matteo Battocchio commented, "It was a strong match. It was 3-2, and in the three sets that we lost, we gave up too early. This is not the right thing for ourselves because we worked hard to be here and try to live this dream, and we gave up too early.
Truth
"We did what we could do, so the truth is they are a strong team. We knew that to win this match, we had to play better than them, but they played better than us, and this is part of the game." In the bronze medal contest, the Bulgarians flexed their muscles and were too good for their opponents.
They secured the victory with a 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-19) result to come away with their second U21 world bronze medal. Opposite spiker Georgi Tatarov scored 19 points for the winners, while star skipper Aleksandar Nikolov had 16.
For the Argentinians, Fausto Diaz finished with 11 points, while three teammates had nine points apiece, including Lucas Conde, Imanol Salazar, and Pablo Cesar Denis Cabanas. "We played a very high level of volleyball in this game; we were very tired from yesterday and were very unhappy with our semi-final result, so we used that rage and released it today," said Nikolov.
"It was a lovely tournament. This last match really made it something that we will remember forever. We came here to win the gold medal; unfortunately, the dream got stopped short, but at least we are going home with something, which is the bronze medal, so we are very happy."
Nikolov finished as the tournament’s best scorer, with 161 points to his name from all matches. Poland captured fifth place overall after defeating Brazil 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 25-22). Opposite spiker Aliaksei Nasevich had 23 points for the Poles, while outside hitters Kamil Szymendera and Piotr Sliwka added 13 apiece.
Brazil’s Lukas Felipe Bergmann led his team with 18 markers. Belgium placed seventh after beating Thailand 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-16). Ferre Reggers, one of the top scorers in the tournament, showed his prowess once more with a 16-point effort, while fellow opponent Basil Dermaux finished with 11. For the Thais, Jakkrit Thanomnoi had 13 markers.
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