Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship:
Ataei’s Foolad lifts second trophy after win in all-Iranian showdown
Foolad Sirjan won a second title in three years at the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship thanks to a straight-set victory (25-20, 25-18, 25-23) victory over fellow-Iranian side Shahdab Yazd.
The emphatic performance in a packed Shahediyeh Indoor Hall in Yazd rounded off a dominant tournament for Behrouz Ataei’s men, who stepped into the showdown on the back of five successive wins, losing only two sets in the process against Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi in the semifinals.
Opposite-spiker Ali Hajipour contributed with 16 points for Foolad, with veteran middle-blocker Seyyed Mohammad Mousavi scoring 11, while Shahdab’s Amir Ghafour chipped in a game-high 17 points.
The much-anticipated showpiece was a repeat of the Iranian Super League final in April, where Foolad had also come out on top in back-to-back five-set thrillers.
Foolad’s combination of physical power and tactical precision ultimately proved too much to deal with for Shahdab, as Ataei’s men kept their composure throughout the game, much to the dismay of the home fans in Yazd, though they will still be thrilled to see their team join Foolad in representing the continent in December’s FIVB Men’s Club World Championship in India.
There was further joy for the two Iranian clubs in the awarding ceremony, as Hajipour was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, while Shadab’s Masoud Gholami and Foolad’s Armin Ghelichniazi shared the prize for Best Middle Blocker.
Amirhossein Esfandiar of Foolad and Pavlodar’s Mikhail Ustinov were picked as the Best Outside Hitters, while Esfandiar’s teammates Ali Ramezani and Mahdi Marandi were the Best Setter and Libero respectively.
Bhayangkara Presisi’s French star Jean Patry received the Best Opposite award.
Earlier in the day, Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi came out victorious in straight sets (25-15, 25-14, 25-19) against Pavlodar VC to add the bronze medal to last year’s silver in Manama.
Star player Earvin Ngapeth, who had only joined the Indonesian club days after winning the Olympic gold with France, was pleased with his second experience of visiting Iran.
“The level of the competition was very high, and while we did not make it to the final, I am still happy we finished third. It is always a pleasure to play in Iran. The atmosphere here is incredible, and the fans are amazing,” Ngapeth said, reflecting on his previous time in the country in 2022, when he helped Paykan win the Asian club title in its own backyard in Tehran.
Relief for Ataei
A continental trophy was perhaps what Iranian Ataei needed to restore his reputation as a top volleyball coach.
When he took over the national team job from Russian Vladimir Alekno in the summer of 2021 – following a pool-phase exit at the Tokyo Olympics – he enjoyed a flying start to his reign.
A first homegrown coach on Iran’s bench in more than a decade, Ataei steered his rejuvenated side to the Asian title – at the expense of host Japan in the final – before Iran made it to the quarterfinals of the 2022 Volleyball Nations League.
The Iranian, however, was faced with the harsh reality of his job when his team finished third from bottom in the 16-team table of the VNL preliminary round a year later and was then outclassed by Japan in the Asian Championship final on home soil.
A gold medal in last year’s Asian Games did little to protect Ataei against his critics as he felt unfairly treated for being made a scapegoat for his team’s failures.
Ataei was eventually convinced to step down from his role midway through the Olympic qualifiers in Rio de Janeiro last October, though there was no change of fortunes for the national team in its quest for a an Olympic berth in this year’s Nations League.
When asked about future goals as a coach after Sunday’s triumph, 54-year-old Ataei said: “I’ll just keep doing what I know best and that is delivering top volleyball players.”
“Iranian volleyball lacks exceptional and game-changing players. We have been missing the prime years of a fine generation of players in Shahram Mahmoudi, Amir Ghafour, Mohammad Mousavi, and Saeid Ma’roof and it takes some time to replace them with the next group of young talents. I just hope the Iranian federation will devise the right plan to make sure the national team is back in its top level of seven or eight years ago.”