AVC Women’s Volleyball Continental Championship:
Iran fights back to stun Chinese Taipei in opener
Iran got off to a flying start at the AVC Women’s Volleyball Continental Championship in Tianjin, China, rallying from behind to stun Chinese Taipei 3-1 (16-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-14) in Pool A on Friday.
Iranian opposite Elaheh Poursaleh chipped in a game-high 25 points, while outside hitter Fatemeh Khalili added 17.
Teenage outside hitter Ayda Valinejad and middle blocker Zahra Karimi also reached double figures for Iran, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Tsai Yu-Chun topped the scoring for Chinese Taipei with 14 points, with opposite Chang Yi-Chi finishing on 13.
Entering the championship on the back of a runner-up finish at the AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup in June, Chinese Taipei was tipped for a comfortable win against Iran, which had finished seventh in June’s tournament, and appeared to be on its way to doing so when it eased to victory in the first set.
However, Poursaleh’s 13-point contribution, coupled with the introduction of Karimi, turned the contest on its head in the second set, as Iran edged out its opponent in a thrilling finale before coming out on top in the next two sets by commanding margins.
With host and record 13-time champion China the overwhelming favorite to top the group, the victory gave Iran a massive boost in its bid for a top-two finish in the pool standings and a place in the quarterfinals.
The impressive win also saw Iran surpass the 100-point mark in the FIVB Women’s World Ranking for the first time, moving up to 41st with 104.47 points.
Dedicating the historic victory to all Iranian women, head coach Alireza Toloukian was full of praise for his players, who “put in a great deal of effort and hard work” to achieve the milestone.
“We were much more organized today. It was a truly demanding contest, but the jinx was broken,” said the Iranian coach. “I have always told the national team players that Iran’s main rivals in the continent are South Korea, Vietnam, Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei, and today’s result has opened the way for us to shine further in the tournament.”
Toloukian still urged his players not to get carried away by the opening-day triumph and to remain realistic about their prospects against the continent’s traditional powerhouses.
“We do not want to get ahead of ourselves. Beating China, Japan and Thailand, teams with experience of competing at the World Championship and in the Volleyball Nations League, is not possible for us at the moment. But we have to focus on beating our other rivals,” he said.
“I was thrilled to see the players manage to overcome the tactical and mental crisis after losing the first set, as they became more comfortable and coordinated as the game wore on,” Toloukian said.
“From the second set onward, we won the match through our defense and the way we designed our attacks,” added the Iranian coach, whose team will next take on China on Monday before concluding the preliminary stage against debutant Iraq the following day at Tianjin Olympic Center Gymnasium.