Iran names 18-man squad for Asian volleyball title defense
Iran head coach Behrouz Ataei announced an 18-man squad for the Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship, starting August 19 in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia.
The four-time champion will begin its quest for a third successive crown with a game against Hong Kong on Aug. 20 in Pool A – also featuring Iraq.
The members of the team will report for a training camp in Tehran on Tuesday.
The good news for the Iranian fans is the return of prolific outside hitter and skipper Milad Ebadipour, who missed the country’s recently-finished campaign at the Volleyball Nations League for family reasons.
Opposite spiker Saber Kazemi has also received a call-up by Ataei but Morteza Sharifi and Ali Hajipour will be ruled out of the event after being injured during the final week of the VNL preliminary round in Anaheim, California.
Pouria Hossein Khanzadeh and Mobin Nasri were also rewarded with a place in the seniors’ team after inspiring the country’s under-21 side to a second world title last week in Bahrain.
Having endured a disappointing VNL run, which saw the Asian powerhouse suffer 10 defeats in 12 outings to finish third form bottom in the 16-team table, Ataei’s men will be looking for a bit of consolation on home soil before heading to Rio de Janeiro in late September for the Paris 2024 Olympics qualification event, where Iran will be taking on Germany, Ukraine, Qatar, the Czech Republic, Italy, Brazil, and Cuba.
The following is the full Iranian squad for the Asian Championship:
Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi; Milad Ebadipour; Mehdi Jelveh; Amir-Reza Sarlak; Mohammad Valizadeh; Pouria Hossein Khanzadeh; Meysam Salehi; Shahrouz Homayounfarmanesh; Amirhossein Esfandiar; Mobin Nasri; Amin Esmaeilnejad; Bardia Sa’adat; Saber Kazemi; Mohammadreza Hazratpour; Arman Salehi; Mohammad-Taher Vadi; Ali Ramezani; Javad Karimi.