Sa’adat receives Iran call-up after injury blow to Esmaeilnejad
Iranian opposite-spiker Bardia Sa’adat received a late call-up by national team head coach Roberto Piazza after star player Amin Esmaeilnejad suffered an ankle injury on Sunday, making him a major doubt for the upcoming FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship.
Esmaeilnejad, who was Iran’s top scorer in the Volleyball Nations League preliminaries earlier in the summer, was forced out in the second set during a 3-1 friendly victory over Qatar in Doha.
Early assessments showed no fracture in his twisted ankle, but he could still be sidelined for three to six weeks to fully recover from the injury.
Iran will begin its campaign at the World Championship against Egypt in Pool B on September 14, and then faces another African test in Tunisia two days later, before taking on host Philippines on Sept. 18.
The top two of the group will progress to round of 16.
Sa’adat was also part of Iran’s VNL roster, contributing double figures in three outings – including a team-high 24 points during a five-set loss to Slovenia in Week 1 in Rio de Janeiro.
Iran will be looking to build on a decent run in the Nations League, during which Piazza’s men won six out of 12 games to finish eighth in the preliminary table but ultimately missed out on a place in the quarterfinals, as China – second from bottom in the standings – automatically qualified as the host of the VNL Finals.