In a day certainly for Persian Whites, Amir Ghafour spearheaded Iran with 24 points in their 3-1 win over Tunisia in the first round of the 2015 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Men's World Cup at the Hamamatsu Arena of Japan on Wednesday.
The Iranians, who had lost their opening match 3-1 to powerful South American giants Argentina, started the match with a relative caution and analyzing watch but the African squad took advantage of the slips and headed the set 8-6.
Getting ahead 16-12 in the middle of the set, the Persians gained edge and widening the gap 25-17 won the first set.
Although the Iranians sustained their intensity to start the second set with a lead, the Tunisians fought well to keep a slim margin, then Garci took charge to lead the Tunisian offence to flourish late in the set and secure second set victory 25-21.
Iran started with setter Mehdi Mahdavi to orchestrate their plays and successfully dished out sets that allowed his hitters to find the open court of Tunisia. Iran led with a 10-point margin before they advanced and clutched the third set 25-14.
Iran led by only two markers in the fourth set but a successful challenge and a block by Tunisia levelled the score at 9-all. The Iranians got off the deadlock from good transition plays and stretched their lead 14-10 and powered their way to achieve a 25-20 win in the fourth set.
The 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup started in Japan on September 8, and will finish on September 23.
The tournament is a qualification process for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The top two teams will qualify for the Olympics and join Brazil, which has already secured a berth as the host country.