TEHRAN, Jul. 28 (MNA) – Iran suffered defeat to Sweden in the quarterfinal of  2018 Men’s Beach Handball World Championships.

In a match held on Saturday in Russia’s Kazan, the Swedish squad won Iran 2-0 (18-12, 15-14) and advanced to the semifinal.

It was the first time that Iran had managed to advance to this stage of competitions.

In the group round, Iran won the match against Uruguay and lost two others to Croatia and Argentina. Accordingly, gaining 2 points, Iran advanced to the main round of the event.

Out of three matches held in this round, Iran overpowered Vietnam 2-0 (15-14, 18-10) and was conquered by Spain 0-2 (16-22, 6-15) and Hungary 1-2 (14-12, 13-32, 4-5). Croatia and Uruguay were also pitted along Iran in this group but since the teams had met in the previous round, they didn’t face again.

Pocketing 4 points, Iran secured the 4th rank of Group I and advanced to the quarter finals for the first time in their history, however, they suffered defeat to Sweden.

The Iranian beach handball team will fight for 5-8 places in their next two matches against rivals which are yet to be determined.

Men’s Beach Handball World Championships kicked off on July 24 at the Kazan Beach Sports Complex and will end on July 29.

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