PAKISTAN OVERPOWER YOUNG IRANIANS IN STRAIGHT SETS TO SET UP REMATCH IN TUESDAY’S SHOWDOWN OF ENGRO CENTRAL ASIAN MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP

Bangkok, Thailand, November 29, 2022 – Hosts Pakistan pulled off the stunning straight-set win against young Iranians to become the only undefeated team in the Engro Central Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship at Nishtar Park Sports Complex in Lahore on Monday

World No.41 Pakistan and world No.10 Iran, which finished 7th at this year’s Volleyball Nations League and 13th at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in Poland and Slovenia, contested their last encounter in the round-robin preliminaries on Monday to determine the top spot in the first round of the five-nation championship

Iran and Pakistan have already secured their places in Tuesday’s final clash as both teams similarly claimed 9 points from three straight wins, allowing the remaining rivals no opportunity to catch up with the two leaders

As Pakistan fielded their national senior team, seven of them including Usman Faryad Ali, Mubashar Raza, Muhammad Kashif Naveed and Hamid Yazman joined the Pakistan squad at the 2021 Asian Championship in Japan, where they finished 7th place, Iran sent in a young team, 10 of them played at this year’s Asian Men’s U18 Championship at home, where they picked up silver

However, Iran remained strong with the likes of Mahdi Jelveh Ghaziani and two powerful spikers Poriya Hossein Khanzadeh Firouzjah and Amir Mohammad Golzadeh. Poriya and Golzadeh steered the Iran’s U20 squad to the Asian Men’s U20 title this year in Riffa, Bahrain and both of them also joined Iran in the 2022 AVC Cup for Men in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. Mahdi Jelveh Ghaziani, 21, was the lone player who joined the Iran national team in the last year’s Asian Championship in Japan, where the Iranians reigned supreme

Pakistan made a strong start to snatch the hard-fought first set 25-22. Iran coach Reza Vakili Farjad shuffled his line-up a lot in the second set to improve the team’s fortune, but still found the host side too strong to go down 20-25

Iran rested their best two players, Poriya and Golzadeh, in the third set, and fielded all U18 players. The young Iranians proved no match against the much stronger Pakistanis. The host side went on their powerful attacks to capture the comfortable set 25-17 and 3-0 match

Farooq Haidar chipped in with 15 points for Pakistan including 12 attacks and team-leading 2 blocks, while Afaq Khan and Abdul Zaheer kept good company to contribute 14 and 11 points respectively. Mohammadreza Alejalil led Iran with 11 points

In the other match, Sri Lanka proved a cut above Afghanistan to beat the spirited rivals in thrilling four-setter 25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 25-15

Lasindu Wasanthapriya remained the Sri Lanka’s star spiker as he topscored once again with a mammoth 41 points including 37 attacks from 64 attempts. In the previous match against Bangladesh, Lasindu similarly scored a match-high 41 points. Mohammad Sabawoon Wardak led Afghanistan with 20 points

At the end of the round-robin campaign on Monday, Pakistan stayed atop the five-nation standing with 12 points from four straight wins, followed by Iran with 9 points from 3 wins against one loss. Sri Lanka had 5 points from 2 wins against 2 losses to finish third, with Bangladesh in fourth position with 4 points from one win against 3 losses. Afghanistan lost them all to finish 5th in this championship

On Tuesday, the final day of the championship, top two teams, Pakistan and Iran, will renew their rivalry in the final showdown, while the 3rd-ranked Sri Lanka and 4th-ranked Bangladesh will fight it out in the third-place playoff for bronze medal

Meanwhile, Mr Mohamed Latheef, President of Central Asian Volleyball Association, presented 10 Mikasa balls to each participating teams to support and promote their volleyball activities

Furthermore, CAVA had also conducted VIS and E-Scoresheet Course for Pakistan Volleyball Federation, with Course Director Mr Morteza Afjehee from Islamic Republic of Iran Volleyball Federation conducting

The Certificate Presentation took place on Monday inside the competition venue, followed by photo opportunity