Asian Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championship:
Iran beats India to maintain perfect start
Iran continued its perfect start to the AVC Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championship in Haikou, China, with a 3-1 victory (29-27, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22) over India on Monday.
The most successful team in the tournament’s history, Iran opened its bid for a record-extending eighth title with a comfortable straight-sets win (25-17, 25-20, 25-13) over the Philippines a day earlier.
Monday’s victory kept Iran atop the Pool B standings ahead of its final preliminary-round match against Bahrain on Tuesday. Bahrain has suffered back-to-back 3-1 defeats to India and the Philippines.
Iran head coach Abdolreza Alizadeh said his side outperformed India “in every aspect of the game” despite being pushed hard in the second set.
“We had a very tough match today. We didn’t expect India to perform at that level. They served very well and executed their first-ball attacks effectively in the second set, but as the match went on, we gradually took control and eventually won,” Alizadeh said.
“Overall, we were better in blocking, serving and reception.”
Iran is chasing its first Asian U18 title in 12 years after finishing runner-up to Japan and China in the 2022 and 2024 editions, respectively.
Elsewhere, 2024 bronze medalist Pakistan eased past Kazakhstan in straight sets (25-14, 25-12, 25-9) to remain top of Pool C, while Thailand swept Kyrgyzstan 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-16).
In Pool D, South Korea maintained its perfect record with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-13) victory over Saudi Arabia, while Chinese Taipei defeated Indonesia in straight sets (26-24, 25-16, 32-30) in Pool A.
The top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals.
The four semifinalists will qualify for the 2027 FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship.