Day 9 puts the spotlight on the men’s gold medal match, where Beijing 2008 bronze medallists RPC will take on reigning and six-time champions Iran in the men’s sitting volleyball final of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Makuhari Messe Hall A on Saturday.

Before the main event, a pair of matinee matches for the men’s and women’s bronze medal are also scheduled.

Opening the day’s order of play is the men’s bronze medal match between Brazil and two-time gold medallists Bosnia and Herzegovina at 14.00 local time, followed by the women’s bronze encounter of Rio 2016 bronze winners Brazil and newcomers Canada at 16.30.

At 19.00, European champions RPC will challenge Paralympic gold medallists Iran in the Tokyo 2020 men’s final.

RPC and Iran are the two best attacking and serving teams in the tournament. RPC have a slight 167-165 edge over Iran in attacks, and a huge difference in aces at 38-22. In the non-scoring department, Iran’s playmaking statistics is superior than any team in the tournament with a setting average of 12.58 per set, led by Davoud Alipourian who is making 8.78 out of the 12.58 per set.

In the scoring department, Gilberto Lourenco da Silva (Giba) of Brazil is the second best scorer after Germany’s Dominik Albrecht. Giba has recorded 73 points so far, while Savichev is the third best scorer with a total of 63 points.

The RPC captain is also the best attacker in the tournament so far, with an efficiency percentage of 34.41. Sadegh Bigdeli and Morteza Mehrzad trail Savichev closely as the second and third best attackers in the tournament with a 33.90 and 32.56 efficiency.