Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games:
Iran cruises past Pakistan to reach men’s volleyball final
Iran’s men’s volleyball national team will chase a fourth successive gold medal at the Asian Games in today’s final after securing an emphatic 3-0 semifinal victory (25-13, 25-15, 25-11) over Pakistan at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Friday.
Outside hitter Ali Haqparast led the way with a match-high 21 points, with opposite spiker Amin Esmaeilnejad adding 15, as Iran, entering the contest on the back of a grueling five-set quarterfinal against South Korea on the previous day, made quick work of its opponent, finishing the match in just under one hour at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium.
Middle blocker Seyyed Eisa Nasseri also reached double figures, chipping in 15 points, while outside hitter Morteza Sharifi finished with nine.
Standing between Iran and the top prize will be host and volleyball powerhouse Japan, which defeated Iran in straight sets in the Continental Championship final on home soil in September to book its place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Japan also emerged victorious in five sets when the two sides met in the Volleyball Nations League preliminaries in June.
Greco-Roman glory
Elsewhere at the multi-sport event, Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Alireza Abdevali claimed the gold medal in the 77kg division in style, defeating reigning Olympic champion and home favorite Nao Kusaka 5-3 in the final.
With Kusaka joined by two-time world champion Akzhol Makhmudov of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan’s Olympic silver medalist Demeu Zhadrayev in the other half of the bracket, the 22-year-old Iranian capitalized on the favorable draw to add Asian Games glory to his two world under-20 titles.
Given a bye in the first round, Abdevali defeated Indonesia’s Andika Sulaeman by technical superiority (8-0) before beating Qatar’s Iranian-born Shahin Baddaghi in similar fashion, winning 9-0, to advance to the final.
“Perhaps few people fancied me against the Japanese opponent, but I wrestled boldly and with determination, fought hard and, thankfully, managed to win the gold,” Abdevali said after the final.
“I believed in myself, and my coach, Hassan Rangraz, also believed in me,” he said.
“Over the past year or two, I had not been able to wrestle the way I wanted and had not achieved good results either. But I am grateful that I managed to find my form again and become the Asian Games champion.”
Abdevali’s triumph marked a second gold medal for the Iranian roster across six weight divisions.
Reigning world super-heavyweight champion Amin Mirzazadeh grabbed the 130kg gold on the opening day of the wrestling event, thanks to a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan’s Rafael Tsitsuashvili in the final.
Mahdi Bali, meanwhile, added a bronze to Iran’s medal haul, recovering from a last-four setback against Japan’s Yuri Nakazato – during which the Iranian surrendered a four-point lead to lose 5-4 – to defeat Kazakhstan’s Islam Yevloyev by fall, while leading 5-1, in the third-place bout of the 97kg category.
Alipour settles for silver
Iranian sport climbing sensation Reza Alipour, entering the Asian Games as the two-time defending gold medalist, had to settle for silver this time around in the men’s speed event.
A former world record holder, 32-year-old Alipour clocked 5.36 seconds in the four-man final to finish behind China’s teenage prodigy Chu Shouhong, who scaled the wall in 4.71 seconds for his third major triumph in a year, having also won the title at the 2025 World Games and April’s Asian Championships.