FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship:
Iran beaten by Spain, misses out on bronze
Iran had to settle for a fourth-place finish at the FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship, after a 3-2 loss (23-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-21, 15-10) to Spain in Sunday’s bronze-medal contest in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Spanish opposite César Irache Camacho stole the show with a remarkable 38 points, while outside-hitter Mario García Domínguez added 10 as Spain – runner-up in 2011 – celebrated a second victory over the two-time champion following a 3-2 triumph on the opening day of competition.
Mohammad-Amin Rahimi chipped in 20 points for Iran, with fellow-outside hitter Amirmohammad Rafiei (16 points), opposite Amir Naderi (13), and middle-blocker Mohammad-Nima Bateni (10) also finishing in double figures.
Iran had a mixed campaign in the group stage earlier in the Uzbek capital, suffering two defeats in five outings in Pool C.
Adel Gholami’s boys recovered from the first-day setback to beat Poland, which defeated Spain in the last four, in five sets and then walked away with comfortable straight-set wins against Egypt and Tunisia.
A 3-1 loss to Italy on the final day of the group phase saw Iran finish third in the six-team group and land Belgium in the round of 16.
Iran overcame Belgium in four sets before defeating surprise package Finland – the only team with a perfect record in the group stage – 3-1 to set last-four date with defending champion France in a repeat of the 2023 final in San Juan, Argentina.
However, Iran’s bid for a first world under-19 title since 2017 ended in vain after France recovered from a first-set defeat to win 3-1 (14-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-19) on Saturday.