Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, August 14, 2022 – Former three-time champions Iran, fielding their U20 squad this time in their final preparation for the Bahrain-hosted 21st Asian Men’s U20 Championship between August 22 and 29, ended their campaign in the 2022 AVC Cup for Men on a positive note following their 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 26-24) triumph over Pakistan to return with the 5th place in this topflight tournament here on Sunday.
Pakistan, spearheaded by Mazhar Ali and Muhammad Waseem, entered the competition site with confidence after a surprise 3-2 win against world No.39 Australia in their classification round for 5th-8th playoffs earlier, while Iran powered past hosts Thailand 3-1 in the same playoffs clash.
Both teams fought tooth and nail from the very beginning of the first set. Amir Mohammad Golzadeh and Poriya Hooseinkhanzadeh Firougjah powered home some thundering attacks to put Iran into a narrow 11-9 lead and stretched to 19-15 when Poriya unleashing terrific jump serves and explosive back row attacks. Pakistan proved no match against the Iranians’ impenetrable defence to fall behind 15-23 and Iran moved on to establish a comfortable six-point lead at 24-18 and never allowed their rivals any fightback to close out the first set 25-18.
Iran still made a storming start in the second set to lead 8-5 and widen it to 16-11. Confident of winning this set, they rested their best players and instead fielded substitutions including Pendar Mameni Moghadam and Mohammad Matin Jafari Baghmalek. Iran chipped in with a few big spikes to move forward 22-15. With Poriya Hooseinkhanzadeh Firougjah in particular on good form, Iran allowed Pakistan one more point before Erfan Norouzi served an ace to help the Iranians claim the comfortable set 25-16.
The third set was more thrilling when both sides levelled at 9-9 and Pakistan managed to keep the rivals at arm’s length throughout the set. They surged into a narrow 15-13 lead and pulled clear after the second technical timeouts to extend the margin to 21-19. However, the Iran’s offence changed the momentum in this set. Porya Hosseinpour and Poriya Hooseinkhanzadeh Firougjah put the Iranians back in the lead at 23-22 and it was Yousef Kazemi Poshtpari and Porya Hosseinpour who notched some crucial points as Iran carved out a 26-24 win in the set for the eventual 3-0 victory.
Poriya Hooseinkhanzadeh Firougjah chipped in with 14 points for Iran, while Porya Hosseinpour and Amir Mohammad Golzadeh kept him good company to add 13 points apiece. Mazhar Ali topscored with 14 points for Pakistan.
After the match, Iran head coach Gholamreza Momeni Moghadam said that his U20 team used the AVC Cup for Men in Nakhon Pathom as a final tune-up before facing another big challenge in the Asian Men’s U20 Championship in Bahrain. He did not focus much on the results, but the opportunity for his players to gain valuable experience is top priority in improving their performance. He is upbeat that in the next few years, his players will be strong and ready to make the national senior team.
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