News / Sports

Iran volleyball players overpower Egypt 3-0 in Rio Olympic Games

Saturday, 13 August 2016 2:40 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 14 August 2016 10:19 AM ]

(L-R) Iran’s Mahdi Marandi, Farhad Ghaemi, Milad Ebadipour Ghara, Shahram Mahmoudi and Adel Gholami celebrate defeating Egypt in a Group B volleyball match against Egypt at the Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil, August 13, 2016. (Reuters)

Iran’s national volleyball team has pummeled Egypt to achieve its second victory in a row at the volleyball tournament in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The Iranian volleyball squad blanked Egypt 3-0 (28-26, 25-22 and 25-16) in their penultimate Group B game at the preliminary round of the competitions at the indoor Ginásio Gilberto Cardoso arena in the northern Maracanã neighborhood of Rio.

“The team played better and we are happy to achieve the victory. There was a great deal of tension because we wanted to move to the quarterfinals, so this was an important match. We did our best to stay calm and play well, and it worked out for us,” Iran coach Raul Lozano said after the match.

“It really feels good to have won this match. We played a difficult game and it is worth celebrating because we have qualified to the quarterfinals. It is a major achievement since this is the first time that we have advanced to the quarterfinal round. This victory is a gift to all Iranians because they have supported us in both good and bad time,” Mahmoudi commented.

Milad Ebadipour Ghara of Iran (C) spikes the ball against Ahmed Abdelhay of Egypt (L) in a Group B volleyball match at the Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil, August 13, 2016. (Reuters)

In other matches of the day, the Netherlands beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-14, 25-22 and 25-16), Russia blanked Japan 3-0 (25-14, 30-28, 25-18), and Brazil hammered South Korea 3-0 (25-17, 25-13 and 27-25).

Iran national volleyball team, which has already booked a place at the quarterfinal round of the Rio Olympic Games, will face Russia at its last preliminary round match at 10:30 p.m. Tehran time (1830 GMT) on Monday.

On Thursday morning, Iranian volleyball players overpowered their Cuban counterparts 3-0 (25-21, 31-29 and 25-16).