AVC Women’s Volleyball Continental Championship:
Iran coach Toloukian rues Asian Games snub after historic run
Iran head coach Alireza Toloukian believes his team’s performance at the AVC Women’s Volleyball Continental Championship was “worthy of winning the title itself,” while lamenting the team’s absence from the country’s delegation for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games later this month.
Iran was beaten in straight sets by Japan on Sunday to miss out on the bronze medal at the continental showpiece in Tianjin, China.
Despite suffering back-to-back defeats against two world-class sides in their final two outings, including a semifinal loss to China, the young Iranian team will still have every reason to be proud of its six-game run, having already made history by securing a maiden last-four spot in nine appearances at the competition.
With the formidable trio of Thailand, China and Japan proving to be in a league of their own, it was always going to be a race between the likes of South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Vietnam and Kazakhstan for the one remaining semifinal spot on offer.
Iran, meanwhile, entered the tournament as an underdog after enduring a below-par campaign at June’s AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup in Candon, Philippines, settling for seventh place in the continent’s second-tier tournament.
Iranian girls, however, beat the odds in Tianjin, fighting back to defeat Chinese Taipei – the runner-up at June’s event – in four sets in their Pool A opener, before claiming a historic quarterfinal victory over Indonesia in similar fashion, avenging their four-set loss to the Southeast Asian side at the Women’s Volleyball Cup.
The poor result in Candon, nonetheless, had already done the damage, as it convinced the Iranian sports authorities to leave the team out of the equation for the Asian Games, a decision in line with the country’s medal-focused policy for the multi-sport event and much to the frustration of Toloukian, who argued that regular international exposure is essential if the team is to close the gap with the continent’s leading sides.
““With my 22 years of coaching experience, I believe we cannot afford to wait until a team has a realistic chance of winning a medal before sending it to the Asian Games,” he said. “The Ministry of Sport and the National Olympic Committee need to provide the conditions for the women’s national team to participate in different competitions so that the players can improve both the mental and technical aspects of their game.”
“The Asian Games are not even on the FIVB calendar, so teams do not participate at full strength. Even countries such as Afghanistan and Nepal compete at the Asian Games, making it more attainable to win a medal than at the Asian Championship.”
On his team’s display against Japan, the Iranian coach said: “We played well in the first set against a team with a great history in women’s volleyball. We were within touching distance of winning the third set, but Japan was lucky to have a late video challenge [after Iran had converted the set point] go in its favor.”
“In future competitions, our players will step onto the court against these teams looking to win. They realized that they are not inferior to the East Asian teams and that they can compete with them,” added the Iranian.
Having previously served as the team’s technical director, Toloukian took over from South Korean head coach Lee Do-hee, who parted ways with the senior national team for unknown reasons only weeks before the Asian showpiece got underway, with many believing his different tactical approach ultimately played a part in the historic feat. The coach stressed that Iran should not attempt to replicate the playing style of China, Japan or South Korea.
“Our style of play is different from the likes of China, Japan or South Korea; it is closer to the European teams, and we play our own volleyball.”
Despite the disappointment of missing the Asian Games, Toloukian believes the result in Tianjin marked an encouraging start to a long-term project.
“The federation’s vision for this team extends through 2028 or 2029. Hopefully, by participating in different competitions, they will be ready to win medals at major events.”