Riyadh 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games:
Iran routs Qatar in men’s volleyball; held by Afghanistan in futsal
Iran claimed a second successive win in the men’s volleyball event of the Islamic Solidarity Games, cruising to a straight-set triumph (25-22, 25-15, 25-18) over Qatar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday.
Opposite spiker Ali Hajipour and middle blocker Yousef Kazemi were the Iranian top scorers with 11 points apiece, while Amirreza Aftab-Azari chipped in 10.
Abdelrahman Bakry led Qatar with a team-high 11 points.
Iran had beaten Bahrain in a five-set thriller (25-21, 22-25, 25-16, 22-25, 15-7) on Wednesday.
Peyman Akbari’s men will face Türkiye today in their third outing of the round-robin tournament, which also features Chad and Saudi Arabia.
Türkiye opened its campaign with a 3-1 win against Qatar on Wednesday.
The top two in the six-team standings will meet in the gold-medal game on Thursday.
In the women’s competition, meanwhile, Iran suffered its second consecutive defeat, falling to Türkiye in straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-13) earlier on Thursday.
“Our players weren’t intimidated by Türkiye, but the reality is, the Turkish players were extremely tall, and we have to be logical about that fact,” Iran head coach Lee Do-hee said after the game.
“However, if our players work more on their individual techniques, they will definitely improve. And if they play with more precision in the future, they can even beat teams like Türkiye,” added the South Korean.
“We were inconsistent with our receptions today, and our passes lacked speed. If we can improve these two areas, we can make up for our losses.
“Our next two opponents, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, are less challenging, so we have a good opportunity to put in a better performance and get a result. We still have a shot at a medal.
“It would have been much better for us if we had played these two games at the start of the tournament. We’re still regretting the match against Azerbaijan; we could have performed better even in the game against Türkiye.”
Beaten in straight sets by Azerbaijan in their opener, Iranian women will face Afghanistan and Tajikistan on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, in the round-robin event, as they look to stay on course for a place in Thursday’s bronze-medal match.
Frustrated in futsal
Iran head coach Vahid Shamsaei was left frustrated by his team’s “complacency” after the Asian powerhouse was held to a 2-2 draw against Afghanistan in Group B of the futsal event on Thursday.
Masoud Yousef put Iran ahead twice, only to see his goals canceled out by Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini and Mahdi Nowruzi on both occasions, as Shamsaei’s men recorded their second draw in Riyadh, having finished with a similar scoreline against Morocco on Tuesday.
“After such a strong performance against Morocco, I didn’t expect the team to play this way against Afghanistan,” Shamsaei said after the game, taking responsibility for “failing to get the players properly motivated for this game.”
“I have a lot of respect for the Afghan team; they played with total commitment. Our players, I think, played with complacency today.
“They need to realize that in futsal, it’s the players’ effort that counts, not their reputation. Afghanistan simply outworked us. We thought the win was in the bag after getting off to a strong start,” added the Iranian futsal great.
This marked Afghanistan’s second impressive result against Iran in two weeks, following a 2-1 win in the Asian Youth Games final.
Asked if the controversial showdown in Manama – in which the two teams got involved in a physical altercation in the closing stages – had affected Thursday’s game, Shamsaei said: “The incidents that occurred during the youth match against Afghanistan have absolutely nothing to do with me and my team. There are simply no excuses for our technical flaws today, and we hold our hands up. Today’s game was a slap in the face.
“The players must act professionally from now on. They have to forget about today’s setback and focus on the next game against Tajikistan, which is a must-win for us if we are to progress to the semifinals.”
Morocco marched to a 7-1 win over Tajikistan earlier on Thursday to move to the top of the group standings with four points, edging Afghanistan on goal difference.
Uzbekistan routed Azerbaijan 13-2 to maintain its perfect record in Group A, while Suadi Arabia bounced back from the first-day defeat against Uzbekistan to beat Libya 5-1.
Kurash medals
Elsewhere at the multi-sport event, Iranian athletes collected four medals in kurash, though they will not be counted in the official medals table, as kurash is one of two demonstration sports – along with pencak silat – in Riyadh.
Ramin Ahmadzadeh defeated his Uzbek opponent to capture the ultimate prize in the men’s -81kg category, while Majid Vahid Barimanlou (men’s -66kg) and Donya Aqaei (women’s -70kg) settled for silvers in their respective events.
Tahereh Azarpeivand finished with a consolation bronze in the women’s -57kg division.