Bangkok, Thailand, June 15, 2019 – Iran retained their title in the ParaVolley Asia Oceania Sitting Volleyball Championship with a straight-set (25-21, 25-7, 28-26) win over China at Huamark Stadium on Saturday.
Iran reasserted its reign to claim the men’s title, as they swept all their matches without dropping a single set. Iran, having booked their spot to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games after winning the 2018 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Championship title, gave way for China to claim the available spot as the next highest ranked team in the Asia Oceania zonal championship.
The first set went down to the wire as the two sides traded with strong spikes until they played all square at 19-all. Iran finally got a breather after that as they grabbed the two-point cushion, but China fought back and to bridge the gap. Iran blocked two spikes by China to put them at set point, then a powerful swing from the middle secured the set in their favour 25-21.
Iran got their bearings back in the second set and executed a sound game plan that facilitated a huge advantage, while China struggled to run their plays. The Iranian spikes continued to send through powerful hits that helped them take an easy win 25-7.
In the third set, China have recovered from the setback in the previous set and established a better performance to match the intensity of their rivals. At the tied score of 12-all, China worked their way to take control of the set entering the second technical timeout 16-14. A series of deadlocks and lead changes ensued until Iran’s solid block and an attack error sealed championship victory at 28-26.
Men’s Final Standing
- Iran
- China
- Kazakhstan
- Korea
- Cambodia
- Thailand
- Japan