Iran heads to Olympic qualifiers after morale-boosting gold in Hangzhou
Iran head coach Behrouz Ataei will hope his men will be inspired by a gold-winning run at the Asian Games when they begin their quest for a berth at next year’s Paris Olympics on Saturday.
Iran is drawn against Brazil, Italy, Cuba, Ukraine, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Qatar in Pool A of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, taking place in Rio de Janeiro.
Ataei’s side left Hangzhou for Brazil on Tuesday night, hours after rallying from behind to beat host China in four sets (19-25, 25-14, 25-22, 26-24) and walk away with the ultimate prize at the Linping Sports Centre Gymnasium.
Shahrouz Homayounfarmanesh chipped in a game-high 17 points, while Amirhossein Esfandiar and Saber Kazemi contributed with 14 apiece as Iran won a third successive volleyball gold at the Games.
Tuesday’s triumph comes as a consolation for Ataei and his team who had finished third from bottom in the 16-team table of the preliminary round in the Volleyball Nations League in July and then fell to a straight-set defeat against Japan on home soil in the Asian Championship final last month.
“I’m glad this medal made the Iranian people happy following a couple of disappointing tournaments. China was the host and eager to win the gold after they refused to bring their best squad to the Asian Championship,” Ataei said after the final.
the Iranian coach, however, knows the scale of the task in Rio is in stark contrast with the one his team had in Hangzhou as Brazil and the reigning world champion Italy remain the favorites to finish as the top two in Pool A and guarantee a place in the French capital.
Iran will get its campaign underway against Germany – in a repeat of a VNL encounter in June when the Asian powerhouse came out on top in straight sets – and then face Ukraine on Sunday.
Ataei’s side will take on Qatar and the Czech Republic respectively, before the massive double header against Italy and Brazil.
The final game of the tournament for Iran comes against Cuba on October 8.
Having missed out on the Asian Games glory, Arman Salehi and Mobin Nasri are to join up with the rest of the team in Rio, while prolific outside hitter Milad Ebadipour has again been ignored by Ataei for the Olympic qualifiers.
“I hope this gold would bring the confidence back to the squad ahead of the upcoming matches as we will have a tough job in Brazil,” said Iranian captain and middle blocker Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi, adding: “We can’t afford to come up with any more excuses. We’ll put in all our efforts to win an Olympic quota in Brazil. I wish I’ll have the chance to finish my career at the Olympics.”
Teams will still have a second chance to book the Paris ticket as the remaining slots will be filled by the top five nations – not yet qualified – in the FIVB World Rankings by the end of the preliminary phase of the 2024 Volleyball Nations League.
However, Ataei is fully aware that his job could be well on the line in Brazil.
When asked after the Asian Championship final if there would be any change on Iran’s bench for the Olympic qualifiers, Mohammadreza Davarzani, the head of the country’s Volleyball Federation, said that he would not act impulsively, though he dropped a vague hint on the long-term future of the national team, saying: “We will surely come up with a more proper decision for next year’s VNL and the Olympic Games.”