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Iran women’s volleyball out of Asian Games equation, NOC confirms
Iran’s women’s national volleyball team will not be part of the country’s delegation to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September, Mahdi Alinejad, secretary general of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Iran, has confirmed.
The Iranian team had hoped to make its first appearance at the multi-sport showpiece since the 1974 edition in Tehran, but a disappointing campaign at the AVC Women’s Nations Cup has convinced the country’s sporting authorities to leave it out of the squad for the event in Japan.
Iran found some consolation by defeating host nation the Philippines in straight sets (25-21, 25-12, 25-21) in Candon on Sunday to finish seventh, its lowest placing in four appearances at the continental tournament despite an unprecedented buildup to the competition.
The team had left the country in April amid wartime conditions in the region to continue preparations in East Asia for two major events over recent months.
Entering the Nations Cup fresh off a second successive CAVA Championship title a week earlier, Iran got off to a losing start in Pool B, falling 3-1 to Indonesia before suffering another defeat by the same scoreline against Kazakhstan — a team it had beaten twice at the CAVA event.
The Iranians bounced back with a comfortable victory over Lebanon but were swept aside in straight sets by defending champion Vietnam.
A 3-0 win over Hong Kong, China, saw Iran finish fourth in the six-team standings and advance to the seventh-place playoff.
Alinejad said Iran’s delegation for the upcoming Asian Games would comprise between 300 and 310 athletes as the country seeks to improve on its performance at the previous edition in Hangzhou, China, where it collected 54 medals, including 13 golds, to finish seventh in the medal table.