Sitting Volleyball World Championships:
Iran men survive early scare to beat Poland in opener
Iran’s men’s and women’s teams got off to winning starts at the Sitting Volleyball World Championships in Hangzhou, China, defeating Poland and Rwanda, respectively, on Friday.
Chasing a record-extending ninth title in the tournament's 14th edition, the Iranian men were stunned in the opening set by Poland, slipping to a 25-23 defeat before bouncing back in emphatic fashion to take the next three sets 25-13, 25-10
and 25-15.
Hossein Golestani led the scoring for Iran with 23 points, including eight aces, while Davoud Alipourian and Meisam Alipour also reached double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Tomasz Labocha was Poland’s leading scorer with 11 points, followed by Marcin Polak with 10.
The victory lifted Iran to second place in Pool D behind familiar rival Bosnia and Herzegovina, which cruised past Japan in straight sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-12).
Iran and Bosnia will meet later today in what is expected to decide top spot in the group. The clash will be a repeat of the previous two World Championship finals as well as the gold-medal match at the 2024 Paralympic Games, all of which were won by Iran.
Earlier in the day, the Iranian women swept Rwanda 25-11, 25-11, 25-11 in Pool A, which also features two-time champion China and Kenya.
Zahra Nejati spearheaded Iran’s victory with a match-high 19 points, while Farzaneh Heidari added 12.
The Iranian women will return to action later today against Kenya before concluding the pool stage against host China on Sunday.
Iran’s women’s team is making its fifth appearance at the World Championships after qualifying with a runner-up finish behind China at the 2025 Asia-Oceania Championships, also held in Hangzhou.
Back-to-back eighth-place finishes in 2000 and 2002 remain Iran’s best results at the tournament. The team finished ninth in the 2022 edition.
The top two teams from each of the four groups in both the men’s and women’s competitions will advance to the quarterfinals, while the two champions will secure qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.