The Iran
men's national under-23 volleyball team has achieved a hard-fought win at the semifinal round of the 19th Asian Senior Men's Volleyball Championship in Indonesia, beating the Australian squad.
The Iranian squad overcame Australia 3-2 (17-25, 18-25, 25-21, 25-19 and 16-14) in a 5th-8th semifinal match at Tri Dharma Hall in Gresik.
The Australians started the opening set vigorously, and were on fire to extend the deficit. They finally took the set by 25 points to 17.
Australia maintained the lead in the second set, and kept pace with a much brighter fashion to establish a seven-point lead, and win the set at 25-18.
The Persians, having lost two consecutive sets and seeing their hopes on the verge of collapse, struggled to rack up points as the match went into the third set. ThesIranian volleyball players tunned Australia's fans when they closed the set at 25-21.
The Iranian sportsmen cherished their hopes in the fourth set. They employed an array of attacks, and the set was sealed at 25-19 Iran's way at last.
The battle for victory continued in the tie-break. Iran started well and finished the set at 16-14 and celebrated the win.
Rasoul Aghchehli was the leading scorer for Iran with 21 points, while Australia's Luke Smith collected 18 points.
The Iran men's national under-23 volleyball team is scheduled to play against China in the 5th place match on Tuesday.
The 2017 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship is the 19th edition of the biennial international tournament organized by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC).
It opened in Gresik, Indonesia, on July 24, and will run through August 1, 2017.
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