In its quarterfinal round showdown, the Iranian volleyball team B lined up against Australia on Thursday.
The hosts won the fierce fight 3-1 to advance to semifinal, where the Chinese are expecting an uneasy match in 12,000-seat Azadi Stadium.
Till mid-way the first set was a back-and-forth between the two teams while Zarrini’s excellent performance and Australians weak defense brought Iranians the first set 25-20. But the second set was from very beginning for the Australians and they got the advantage 25-14.
Iranians won the third and fourth sets 25-20, and 25-20 and defeated the tenacious Australians 3-1.
Now to proceed to final, the Iranians need to defeat the Chinese in the semifinal match on Friday.
The 2015 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship opened at Azadi Sport Complex in Tehran on July 31 and will run until August 8.
Except the defeat Iranians suffered from South Koreans, the Iranian team won the other three encounters as they picked up a straight-set win over Kuwait (25-13, 25-22, 25-13) in their opening match on Friday and then scored a straight-sets victory in their second match versus Kazakhstan (25-23, 25-16, 27-25).
Iran’s last performance in pool A was against Chinese Taipei where Iranian volleyball players blanked Taiwan 3-0: 25-16, 25-16 and 25-19.