Riyadh 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games:
Shahsavari shines in table tennis; Iran strikes men’s volleyball gold
Neda Shahsavari headlined Iran’s gold rush on the sixth day of the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, capturing both the women’s singles and doubles titles in table tennis.
Elsewhere on Thursday, the Iranian men’s volleyball team capped its dominant run in the Saudi capital with a 3-1 victory over Türkiye in the final.
Another final featuring Iran and Türkiye saw Shahsavari team up with Shima Safaei to rally past Ece Haraç and Özge Yılmaz in four games (9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8) in the women’s doubles showdown.
The victory marked a second medal in Riyadh for Shahsavari and Safaei, who were part of the Iranian trio – alongside Setayesh Illoukhani – that settled for bronze in the team event earlier in the Games.
Shahsavari then completed her glittering campaign later on Thursday, pulling off a sensational fightback to defeat Syria’s Hend Zaza 4-2 (7-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, 13-11) in the singles final.
Shahsavari’s gold rounded out an impressive run for Iranian table tennis at the multi-sport event, which also yielded a team silver and a doubles bronze in the men’s competition.
Volleyball dominance
Iran proved to be in a league of its own in the men’s volleyball, completing a clean sweep of six victories.
In a rematch of the round-robin encounter, which had also finished in four sets, Peyman Akbari’s men took the first two sets by identical 25-20 scorelines, before Türkiye capitalized on a somewhat complacent Iranian performance in the third to win 25-17.
The European side, however, was denied a comeback in the fourth, as Iran closed out the match 25-17 to celebrate a fifth men’s gold in six ISG editions.
“Given the team’s success in the previous editions, the pressure was always on Iran to clinch the gold once again, and I am glad that it happened tonight,” Akbari said after the final victory.
“Türkiye’s first team had finished in the top six at the World Championship [in September], and we also had two tough matches against them. Aside from Chad, I think all the other five teams put up a solid performance here,” added the Iranian coach.
“We played six matches in this tournament, and our approach was to utilize the entire roster to avoid placing too much strain on just a few key players. With the Iranian League starting in just a few days, these players need to be ready for their clubs. Therefore, we made a conscious effort to give everyone playing time so that the minutes were distributed evenly. We hope they return to their clubs in good form.”
There was further glory for Iranian volleyball on Thursday, as the country’s women’s team finished with a consolation bronze, thanks to an emphatic straight-set victory (25-2, 25-7, 25-8) over Tajikistan.
Iranian girls got off to a slow start in the round-robin phase, suffering back-to-back 3-0 defeats against Azerbaijan and Türkiye, but bounced back with comfortable wins against Afghanistan and Tajikistan to book a place in the third-place match.
“I had higher expectations for my players, regarding their final standing here, though it’s my job to work on the players’ strengths and weaknesses to help them perform at a higher level,” Iran head coach Lee Do-hee said.
“The players’ self-confidence, their conduct at their clubs, and their focus on high-ball defense are all areas that require more work. I think after what we saw from the team here, we will have to make changes to the squad for future events,” added the South Korean.
“Three or four players from the U18 squad will be promoted to the senior team for the future,” said Lee, as she looks to build on Iran’s gold-winning campaign at the Asian Youth Games last month.