The third week and last qualifying stage of the Volleyball Nations League 2022 kicked off on July 5 in Japan’s Osaka and Poland’s Gdańsk for the fifth and sixth groups respectively.
In the fourth and last match between Iran and Poland, Iran managed to defeat their rivals and won for the fifth time during the competition.
Iran defeated Polish 3-2 to amaze experts with their technic.
Head coach of Iran men's national volleyball team and former professional volleyball player Behrouz Ataei used players such as Milad Ebadipur, Amir-Hossein Esfandiar, Amir-Hossein Toukhteh, Mehdi Jelveh, Amin Esmaeilnejad, Mohammad-Taher Vadi, and Mohammad-Reza Hazratpur in the competition.
Mohammad-Reza Davarzani, President of the Iran Volleyball Federation (IRIVF), and Hossein Gharibi, Iran’s Ambassador to Poland, watched the contest at ERGO ARENA hall in Poland’s Gdańsk.
Some 15,000 spectators, including some Iranian expatriates, watched the match on Tuesday night.
Poland’s Kurek Bartosz scored 23 points and Iran’s Amir-Hossein Esfandiar scored 21 points in the competition. Amin Esmaeilnejad and Milad Ebadipur got 18 and 17 points respectively.
Also, Iran’s national volleyball team moved up one place in the Volleyball Nations League 2022 to seventh with 14 points.
The Iranian team succeeded in defeating Poland’s team, which has 23 different medals in various international competitions, including the gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
Poland’s national volleyball team was crowned world champion in 1974, 2014, and 2018 as well as in the international league in 2012. The Polish national volleyball players could bag the silver medal in 2021.
The first contest between Poland and Iran took place in 1988 during the world championships when the Polish team defeated the Iranians 3-0. Their latest match happened in Tokyo Olympics when the Iranian volleyball team defeated its Polish rival 3-2. In 2022, Iran overcame Poland in the Nations League.
Iran is scheduled to play Italy on Thursday.
The top eight teams of the Volleyball Nations League 2022 will qualify for the quarterfinals, which are scheduled to be held in Italy from July 20 to 24.