Esmaeilnejad joins Akkus Belediyespor in Turkish volleyball league
Iranian opposite spiker Amin Esmaeilnejad has joined Turkish Efeler Ligi side Akkus Belediyespor.
The Iranian made his debut for the club in a straight-sets defeat to Halkbank on Saturday, contributing three points. The loss marked Akkus Belediyespor’s sixth in seven outings, leaving them second from bottom in the 14-team league.
Esmaeilnejad was a key player for Iran in June’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL), finishing as the 17th-highest scorer with 158 points. His efforts helped Iran finish eighth in the 18-team preliminary round, though the team narrowly missed qualification for the VNL Finals.
The prolific spiker missed September’s World Championship in the Philippines due to an untimely ankle injury sustained just before the tournament. Without him, Iran reached the quarterfinals, where they were defeated 3-1 by Czechia.
Iranians shine in Turkey
Meanwhile, other Iranian players delivered impressive performances in the Turkish league’s seventh round on Saturday. National team captain Morteza Sharifi scored 20 points, including three aces, to lead Istanbul BSK to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 27-25) home victory over Spor Toto. The win keeps Istanbul second in the table with six wins.
Ali Fazli earned a man-of-the-match award, contributing 21 points in Istanbul Basaksehir’s straight-sets win (32-30, 25-11, 25-22) against Gaziantep Genclik.
Despite a 15-point performance from the in-form Bardia Sa’adat, Alanya Belediyespor fell to a 3-1 defeat against league leaders Ziraat Bankasi.