FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship:
Iran salvages victory over Argentina, advances to last eight
Iran came from behind to beat Argentina 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-23) and progress to the last-eight round at the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship in Jiangmen, China, on Wednesday.
Middle-blocker Armin Qelichniazi was the star of the show for Iran with a game-high 18 points.
Prolific opposite Pouya Ariakhah added 15 points – including double aces – for the reigning champion, while opposite-spikers Matin Hosseini and Ariyan Mahmoudinejad chipped in 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Mateo Gomez (13 points), Iñaki Ramos (12), Fausto Diaz (11), Emiliano Molini (11), and Leonardo Herbsommer (10) all finished in double figures for the South Americans.
“We aimed to dictate the game with solid defense and well-executed passes at the net. However, we lost the first set due to poor serving, which allowed Argentina to outperform Iran in offense during that set,” Iran head coach Gholamreza Mo’menimoqaddam said after the game.
“Overall, we made some mistakes in this match, which is normal for players at this age level. Players need to make these errors in order to gain the necessary experience and maturity before playing for the senior national team,” added the Iranian, whose team will Japan or China for a place in the semifinals.
Wednesday’s victory was Iran’s sixth in Jiangmen.
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.
A 3-1 win against Poland on Tuesday had seen Iran finish atop the Pool B table.