AVC Volleyball Challenge Cup:
Iranian girls beat Hong Kong, to face India for fifth place
Iranian women will be hoping to repeat last year’s fifth-place finish at the AVC Volleyball Challenge Cup when taking on India in Manila, Philippines, today.
Padideh Bolourizadeh’s girls defeated Hong Kong 3-1 (26-24, 26-24, 19-25, 25-19) in Tuesday’s 5th-8th semifinals, though the victory proved costly for the Iranian coach as first-choice setter Dorsa Fallah and Elaheh Poursaleh were forced out injured midway through the contest and will be doubts for the final-day game.
Today’s encounter will be a second between the two sides at this year’s event after the Indians came out on top in straight sets in Pool A opener last week.
Taking part at the event for only a second time, Iran also suffered defeats against the Philippines (3-0) and Australia (3-1) and managed a single victory over the Chinese Taipei in four sets to finish second from bottom in the five-team group, with the host and Australia progressing to the last four thanks to a top two spot.