Iran blanks South Korea to cruise into FIVB U19 World Championship final

The Iran men's national under-19 volleyball team has proudly marched into the final showdown of the 2017 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Volleyball Boys' U19 World Championship in Bahrain, after it trounced South Korea in a semi-final showdown.

On Saturday, the Iranian team defeated South Korea in straight sets (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) at the Isa City Sports Hall, and advanced to the final round.

Iran’s Pouriya Yali recorded 21 solid attacks. Amir Hossein Toukhteh and Amir Mohammad Falahat Khah made an exceptional performance in defense, as the two players combined for eight of Iran’s 11 blocks.

Im Donghyeok and Lim Sungjin scored 13 points apiece for South Korea.

“We had some very good team play today. Two years ago, we took the bronze medal against Russia and we needed to improve that. Now we are against Russia in the final. This game is very important for us to play good volleyball. The energy and tactics must be divided into all the players. Just like today everyone in the team helped to win.

“The tournament final will be different from the other games. I want my team to show good volleyball. We must focus on playing well and the results will come. I think both teams are equal. There is a chance for either to win. It is a matter of which team has more motivation to win. I think this will be the key. Russia is very strong, so we must not allow them to have any energy in the game,” Iran’s coach, Reza Vakili Farjad, said after the match.

Iran’s captain, Amirhossein Esfandiar, said, “Today was important for us because now we are guaranteed of a medal. We will only think about the gold medal tomorrow.

“South Korea is a good team, which plays at a very high level. I want to thank our coaching staff for preparing us and for getting everything done in this match.

“Russia is a very strong team and has a very good setter. Two years ago, he was in Argentina. (Konstantin) Abaev has a very good reputation in both the youth and junior age groups. He is a leader on the Russian team. It will not be an easy match tomorrow, but we will make an effort to go for the gold medal.”

South Korean coach, Park Wongil, said, “We played really bad and Iran played great. They had great reception. They are a great team and they showed that they are better than us. Our service was not sufficient and that is one major reason why we lost. Improving our service is a main point for tomorrow against Japan. If we can do better tomorrow then we can execute our plays.”

“Iran team played great today. We hope we can improve against Japan tomorrow. Our last match against them was at the Asian Championship final. We were really exhausted so we lost 3-0. They have a good team so we have to prepare on our reception. Both teams are not tall but both are very skilled. Reception and digging will be the key for us in the next match,” South Korean captain Choi Ikje pointed out.

The Iran men's national under-19 volleyball team will play Russia in the final match on Sunday.

The 2017 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U19 World Championship started in Bahrain on August 18, and will wrap up on August 27.

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