How Frank Teyari's Students Became Champions of Women's Basketball in Iran?

The Gas Tehran team succeeded in the final of the Iranian Women's Basketball Super League, defeating the Koushaspehr team just like in the first match, and claimed the championship title. Last year, Gas lost the final match to Ararat. After last year's final, experienced player Tahmineh Farati retired from professional sports. This year, the Gas players showcased an outstanding performance to stand on the top podium. They won the final with a score of 74 to 73, having been 15 points behind. Recovering such a deficit in competitions like the NBA is not unusual, but in Iranian women's basketball, it is remarkable and unprecedented. In the third-place match, Bandar Abbas Municipality managed to defeat Zob Ahan. This stage of the competition was held at the Heydarnia Hall and had a large number of spectators. After their victory, the Gas Tehran players formed a championship circle and celebrated. Despite adhering to the principles of the Islamic Republic, state media does not cover women's basketball competitions. Even more surprisingly, the Basketball Federation's website only mentioned the results and did not publish the names of the champion team. Besides interviews with the coaches of the first and second teams, no other information such as statistics, game details, or profiles of the league's top players was released on this site. News agencies also reflected the results published by the Basketball Federation's public relations and did not include the names of the champion team in the Iranian league. To prepare this report, we found the names of the players on Instagram and an account named 'Women's Basketball' run by female basketball players. Tina Isaian, the best player in Iranian women's basketball, who was said to lead any team to victory, played this season for Koushaspehr and settled for the runner-up position. Two Gas players fouled out in the final because of Tina. Golara Kakavand, another key player for Gas, also fouled out but was successful in containing Isaian. The head coach of Gas commented on their championship to the Basketball Federation's website, saying: 'The presence of the spectators energized us. When we were behind, I completely changed the team's system. We did not have players of the same height as Tina and the foreign player of Koushaspehr, but the opponent's weakness in three-point shooting allowed us to win in the last quarter.' Aina Gokova, a Turkmenistani player for Koushaspehr, had previously played for Qazvin and Ararat teams and has experience in teams from Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Turkey. When the Iranian national team played a friendly match against Turkmenistan, the conditions for her joining the Iranian league were prepared. Mona Behbahani, a Gas player, praised the quality of the competitions, saying: 'No team is considered a foregone conclusion anymore, which has made the league more exciting. Our team has good players and has appeared as a contender throughout all seasons, but we faced tough challenges against our opponents, and it was not easy to win.' Pouran Abbasi, the head coach of Koushaspehr, after her team's runner-up position said, 'The experience of Gas players helped them become champions. If my players had implemented what I told them, we could have achieved the championship.' Delaram Vakili, Azadeh Moeini, Golara Kakavand, Mona Behbahani, Samaneh Sabzizadeh, Saideh Ali, Atousa Abbasi, Sogand Ahmadi, Sahar Ahmadi, Golshid Omidian, Ghazal Farahani, Maedeh Jafari, Farzaneh Foroutan, and Zahra Zamani Nejad were the players of the Gas team in these competitions. Saideh Ali is one of the national players of Gas who previously played for Gonbad Physical Education, Shahrdari Gorgan, and Qazvin club. She, whose mother was also a basketball player, has the ability to play in both the point guard and shooting guard positions. Gas became champions while the girls of this team have endured many challenges for their team's success over the years. Two years ago, Frank Teyari, who has now made her team champions, told ISNA news agency: 'If women were important, efforts would be made for them. Our team practiced in a park due to high hall costs.' According to Ms. Teyari, every team that has a men's section should be required to form a women's team as well. The cost of maintaining a women's team is equivalent to that of an average player on men's teams. The coach of the Iranian women's basketball champion team reminded that women should be given importance, but they see no attention towards themselves. They need to care for the female basketball players so that a fundamental plan can be made.