Tehran, Iran, March 18, 2015 – After five months, the 28th edition of the Iran Clubs Volleyball Championship came to an end, with Peykan narrowly edging Shahrdari Urmia in hard-fought five-set thriller 25-22, 18-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-12 at Azadi Hall 2 to capture the title for 12 times.
The final day of the championship, in remembrance of Hossein in Maadani the late volleyball coach of Iran, saw the first match for bronze medal contested between Mizan of Mash ‘had and Shahrdari Tabriz.
In the preliminary round of the volleyball Super League Championship Mizan Mash’had and Shahrdari Tabriz had played each other twice. Shahdari Tabriz had been defeated by Mazin 1-3 in home and away encounters. So by these two wins, Mizan had showed a good performance and the luck seemed to be with them for a place among top three. But with a stunning 0-3 loss in the third-place playoff, they handed Shahrdari Tabriz the bronze medal.
The final match was very crucial to both sides as the winners not only captured the Iran Clubs title, but also earned a spot in the Asian Men’s Clubs Volleyball Championship, due to take place from August 13 to 21, 2015 in Taipei, Chinese Taipei.
Peykan and Shardari Urmia were going to weigh their strength and potential for the title in threshold the Iranian New Year’s Eve, somehow it was a present to their beloved fans. In a five-set match Peykan dictated their dominance upon the powerful Urmia. The victory has stretched the Peykan to unchallenged 12 times of the Championship in the history of Iran Clubs Championship.
Shahrdari Tabriz thrash Mizan 3-0 in bronze-medal match
Shahrdari Tabriz started the first set aggressively to win 25-22. In the second set, Mizan team improved their form to gain points, but the game did not go their way. Even though head coach of Mizan fielded several substitutions, their intention was still in vain. Shahrdari Tabriz took the set 25-22.
Mizan tried to come up with better form in the crucial third set. However, reception and performance of Mizan’s star players, most of them in the senior national men’s team, were not satisfying. Mizan managed to narrow the gap but it was too late as the rivals widened the gap to eventually clinch the set 25-22, the match and the bronze medal.
Final Match
Peykan narrowly beat Shahrdari Urmia 3-2 (25-22, 18-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-12)
Peykan the most prestigious and experienced volleyball team of Iran clubs, were pitted against Shahrdari Urmia in the showdown. Urmia had never won the Super League of Iran before.
In preliminary round earlier. both teams emerged as the top of their respective groups. They still came up with almost the similar standard which saw several rallies between them.
The first set was very close, with leads changing hands for several times. Peykan fared better to seal the first-set victory 25-22.
Urmia fought back hard in the second set to win 25-18 without much effort for a 1-1 draw. They remained in splendid form in the third set, which they won 25-20 to stretch it to 2-1.
Peykan came back on the right track in the fourth set when they performed well defensively and offensively to grab the set win 25-22, forcing both sides to play in the deciding set.
The tie-breaker was very thrilling as both teams fought hard to win the set which saw the on-going battle closely-contested. With greater experience and form, Peykan captured the action-packed set 15-12 and the championship.
Final Ranking of the Super League Championship
1. Peykan
2. Shahrdari Urmia
3. Shahrdari Tabriz
4. Mizan Mash’had
5. Matin Varamin
6. Novin Keshavarz
7. Bazarghani Javaherin Gonbad
8. vezarat Deaf
9. Saipa Albert
10. Shahrdari Zahedan
11. Aluminum Almahdi Bandar Abbas
12. Taavon Gonbad
13. Erteaashat Sanati Iran
14. Pars Mehr