Head coach Ataei names Iran’s 14-man squad for Asian Volleyball Championship
Iran head coach Behrouz Ataei announced his 14-man squad for the Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship – starting today in Urmia, northwest Iran.
Middle blocker Mehdi Jelveh was the last player to be dropped for the continent’s flagship volleyball event before Iran gets its title defense underway with a game against Hong Kong in Pool A – also featuring Iraq – on Sunday.
Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi, Milad Ebadipour, Mohammad Valizadeh, Pouria Hossein Khanzadeh, Meysam Salehi, Shahrouz Homayounfarmanesh, Mobin Nasri, Amin Esmaeilnejad, Saber Kazemi, Mohammadreza Hazratpour, Arman Salehi, Mohammad-Taher Vadi, Javad Karimi, and Mohammad Fallah will represent the Asian powerhouse at the 22nd edition of the competition.
Having endured a disastrous campaign at the Volleyball Nations League in July, which saw Ataei’s men lose 10 in 12 outings and finish third form bottom in the 16-team table of the preliminary round, Iran will be eager to bounce back when chasing a fifth Asian trophy ahead of late September’s qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.
The outcome of the Asian event will contribute to the teams’ status in the FIVB World Ranking – a decisive factor in the qualification process for next year’s Games in the French capital.
That is what convinced Japan, which stunned the world of volleyball by claiming the bronze medal at the VNL Finals, to name a full-strength squad for the Asian Championship.
On Thursday, Ataei’s side walked away with a morale-boosting victory over Japan in a friendly game behind closed doors in Urmia, rallying from behind to win 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-21).
Japan will begin its Pool B campaign today against Thailand before facing Uzbekistan on Sunday.