Asian Age Group Aquatics Championships:
Iran off to flying water polo start with Malaysia rout
Iran began its water polo campaign at the Asian Age Group Aquatics Championships in emphatic fashion, hammering Malayasia 34-3 in a Group B encounter in the Filipino city of Capas on Monday.
Ali Pirouzkhah’s boys won the first three quarters by 8-1, 9-1, and 7-1 scorelines respectively before scoring 10 without response in the final quarter.
Group B also Kazakhstan, Singapore, and Sri Lanka, with Iran taking on the latter in its second outing today.
Singapore sits atop the group table with maximum points, thanks to back-to-back victories over Malaysia and Sri Lanka, while Kazakhstan opened its campaign with a 43-1 thrashing of Sri Lanka on Sunday.
The Iranian water polo team will be looking to continue the country’s impressive run in the competition following medal-laden performances in the swimming and diving events.
Sam Vajer, who claimed the best diver award in the 15-17 age class, bagged a couple of golds in the boys’ board level 3m and 1m contests, as well as the platform silver.
He also teamed up with Kiumars Aslani to win the 3m synchronized springboard silver and finish on the third podium in the synchro board level final.
Samyar Abdoli, meanwhile, led the charge for the country in the swimming contests with a men’s 50m freestyle gold in the over-18 class, while he was part of the four-man team alongside Homer Abbasi, Mehrshad Afghari, and Matin Sohran that won the 4X100m freestyle relay bronze.
Mohammad-Mahdi Gholami also enjoyed a prolific campaign with five medals in the 13-14 age category despite leaving Capas without a gold – grabbing double silvers in the 200m individual medley and 200m butterfly events – as Iran finished with three golds plus seven silvers and bronzes apiece.