Iran beaten by South Korea in Asian Boys’ U19 Volleyball Championship
The Iran men's national under-19 volleyball team has slumped to another defeat against South Korea at the 2017 Asian Youth Boys Volleyball Championship, failing to book a place in the final showdown of the continental sports event.
On Tuesday, the South Korean squad, which had already beaten the Iranian side 3-2 (21–25, 25–18, 23–25, 25–17 and 15–10) in its Pool B preliminary round match on April 1, stunned defending and seven-time champion Iran once again in a hard-fought five-set thriller at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium Hall B, and chalked up a 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 16-25 and 15-9) win.
South Korea’s Im Donghyeok scored a match-high 41 points, including 39 kills from 73 attempts. Morteza Sharifi top scored with 30 points for Iran, including 23 kills, 4 stuff blocks and 3 ace serves. Ali Tabari contributed 18 attack hits.
“It was a tough match. For the first and second sets, our team did very well… In the third set, Iran led 5-0 and I think it was because our team members were mentally broken. In the fifth set, we led all the ways and we eventually won it. We next take on Japan. We have yet played the Japanese, but they beat China in straight sets. It must be a tough match out there against Japan. We will do our best,” South Korea’s team manager Park Wongil said after the match.
Iran will play China in bronze medal match on Wednesday, while South Korea will face Japan in the final.
The 2017 Asian Youth Boys Volleyball Championship opened on March 28 in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, and will wrap up on April 5.
The tournament serves as the Asian qualifiers for the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U19 World Championship, which is scheduled to be held in Bahrain. Only the four top-ranked teams will qualify for the world championship.
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