FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship:
Iran defeats Poland to progress as group winner
Iran defeated Poland 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-17, 25-19) to advance to the round of 16 as the Pool B winner at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship in Jiangmen, China.
Outside-hitter Matin Hosseini chipped in a game-high 17 points – including four aces – while Pouya Aryakhah (14), Ariyan Mahmoudinejad (12), and Armin Ghelichniazi (12) also finished in double figures as Iran completed a clean sweep of five victories in the preliminary round.
“Thank God we had a very good game today, and I am absolutely satisfied with all of my players’ performance. That’s what I expected to see from them after five months of hard training,” Iran head coach Gholamreza Mo’menimoqaddam said after the game.
“Poland is a very good team and had not conceded a single set until today, but we were better than them in every aspect of the game. The Iranian players were exceptional in defense and executed everything I told them during the analysis sessions,” added Mo’menimoqaddam, who is on a remarkable 24-game unbeaten run with his team, during which Iran claimed back-to-back Asian under-20 titles either side of the world U21 crown in 2023 in Manama.
“Beyond all the tactics and techniques, I believe the solidarity and friendship between our players were best demonstrated in today’s game,” said the Iranian.
Iran began its title defense in Jiangmen with a 3-1 win against Kazakhstan and then eased past Puerto Rico in straight sets, and edged out South Korea in a five-set thriller – in a repeat of last year’s Asian under-20 final, which Iran had won in straight sets – before beating Canada 3-0 on Monday.
Iran will resume action on Thursday against the fourth team in Pool D, which will be either Argentina or Ukraine.
“I just hope we can Carry this momentum forward and be at our mental and tactical best when knockout phase gets underway. We’re taking it one game at a time,” said Mo’menimoqaddam.