On Saturday, Iranian volleyball players faced host country Japan at the Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium, and managed to defeat the Japanese team with a 3-1 win (21-25, 25-19, 25-20, and 25-14), while having conceded the first set.
The Iranian outfit displayed a mediocre performance during the first set by accepting defeat with four points behind, but made a powerful comeback for the next three sets.
Having lost the Friday showdown to Italian rivals 3-0, it was crucial for Iran to win this game in order to secure its place among the top three countries, while Japan already at the bottom of the ranking table would not have gained much with a win today.
Highly motivated to earn this win, the Iranian volleyball players took the third set by storm by mounting powerful serves and some good blocking.
With three wins and one loss (against Brazil), Iran is now on the verge of claiming a world ranking by standing on the third place after Brazil and Italy, respectively.
The Iranian outfit will take on France on Sunday and will be able to guarantee its medal by defeating their rivals.
MS