AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship:
Iran holds off Taipei fightback, sets up last-four date with Australia
Iran overcame a third-set wobble to beat Chinese Taipei 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18) on Friday and advance to the AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship semifinals in Fukuoka, Japan.
Pouria Hosseinkhanzadeh finished with a game-high 24 points, with fellow outside hitter Morteza Sharifi, as well as prolific opposites Amin Esmaeilnejad and Ali Hajipour, adding 12 apiece, as Iran tallied 68 points from attacks, seven blocks and four service points, while benefiting from 17 opposition errors.
Outside hitter Chang Yu-Chen led Chinese Taipei with 18 points, while Wen Yi-Kai and Chang Yu-Sheng also reached double figures, chipping in 14 and 11, respectively.
Standing between Iran and a fourth successive final appearance in today’s semifinal will be Australia, which managed a tough 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-19) straight-sets win over Thailand on Thursday, outplaying Thailand mostly at the net with a 10-4 advantage in kill blocks. Outside hitter Lorenzo Pope was the top scorer of the match, contributing 17 points, spiking at a 56 percent success rate and adding two kill blocks and an ace. Opposite Lincoln Alexander Williams chipped in with another 15 points, including two aces and a block.
As if Iran needed extra motivation to chase a fifth continental crown in eight editions, direct Olympic qualification is up for grabs in Fukuoka, with the champion securing a berth at the multi-sport extravaganza in Los Angeles in two years.
However, with defending champion Japan regarded as the ultimate favorite to punch the L.A. ticket on home soil, Iran will have to deliver a much-improved performance from its disappointing Volleyball Nations League run in July in a likely showdown with the formidable hosts.
Entering the event on the back of nine defeats – including a 3-2 setback against Japan – in 12 outings in the VNL preliminaries, Iran defeated both New Zealand and India in straight sets before claiming a hard-fought 3-1 win (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23) against China on Wednesday to progress to the quarterfinals as the Pool B winner.
China surrendered a first-set lead to be stunned by South Korea 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 29-27) in the other quarterfinal on Thursday.
The two semifinalists in Fukuoka will be joined by the bronze medalist in qualifying for the rebranded FIVB Volleyball World Cup next year in Poland.