Iranian Women's Volleyball Team Defeats Australia for the Second Time in Five Days

The Iranian women's national volleyball team successfully defeated Australia for the second time in five days during the Asian Confederation Cup. The tournament is being held in Thailand, where the Iranian girls topped Group C with three consecutive victories. Australia, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines were the teams that lost to Iran in the group stage. The Kazakh women finished ninth in the Beijing Olympics and have qualified for the World Championships twice, also winning three medals in the Asian Confederation Cup. In contrast, Iranian women's volleyball has never participated in the Olympics or World Championships, with the best title being a bronze medal at the 1966 Asian Games. Maedeh Barahani and Mahsa Kadhkhoda were the highest scorers for Iran in the group stage. However, this top position did not lead Iran to face an easier opponent in the knockout stage; instead, they had to compete against the Olympic champion. China, as the world and Olympic champion, defeated Iran in the quarter-finals in three consecutive sets. It is unclear why the two group leaders faced each other according to the schedule. Javad Mehrgan is the head coach of the national team, but due to the opposition from hardline religious factions against employing male coaches for female athletes in Iran, he is referred to as a 'technical advisor.' In the official competition bulletin, Mehrgan is listed as the coach and Akram Ghahramani as the assistant. After the defeat against China, Javad Mehrgan stated, 'My players gave their all. We followed the plan, but perhaps I should have used a better tactic.' Following this defeat, Iran faced Australia again and won 3-1. The result of their group stage match was 3-0 in favor of Iran. In this match, Mona Ashafteh was recognized as the highest scorer for Iran with 16 points. Iran lost the first set but won the next three sets. The Iranian women's volleyball team will play against South Korea on Saturday in their quest for a fifth to eighth place finish. The players representing Iran in this competition are Elham Fallah, Shabnam Alikhani, Negin Shirteri, Farzaneh Moradian, Negar Kiani, Soodabeh Bagherpour, Shokoufeh Safari, Tahmineh Dargazani, Farzaneh Zarei, Mahsa Saberi, Mona Ashafteh, Aytek Salamat, Neda Chamlanian, Maedeh Barahani, and Mahsa Kadhkhoda. Before heading to Thailand for the Confederation Cup, the Iranian girls also participated in a preparatory tournament in Hungary.