On the final day of the Rio 2016 Paralympics, Iran snatched gold in men's sitting volleyball by defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1 at Riocentro on Sunday to bring a small moment of joy to the delegation who is mourning over demise of Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad who died following an accident in the road race.
In respect to their compatriot, sitting volleyball team carried a photo of late Golbarnejad onto the court.
Taking advantage of the 2.46m tall threat Morteza Mehrzadselakjani, the Iranian squad won the opening set 25-21 before Bosnia and Herzegovina countered to tie the match at one set each. Iran won the following to sets 25-18, 25-15.
In the bronze medal match, Egypt subdued host Brazil 3-2 to stand on the third podium.
The gold medal marks the sixth trophy attained by Iran’s sitting volleyball squad in Paralympic Games.
Accordingly, Iran’s Paralympic caravan managed to scoop eight gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals to stand in the 15th place in Rio with a total of 24 medals. Interestingly, the total tally of medals for Iran in Rio de Janeiro event equaled the figure for 2012 London Paralympics.
China bagged 239 medal in Rio to enjoy the top position in medal count standings followed by Britain and Ukraine who scooped 147 and 117 medals respectively. The Fourth to tenth positions were taken by the US, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, Italy and Poland.
During the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games on Sunday, President of the International Paralympic Committee Sir Philip Craven delivered a speech and paid condolences to Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad’s family, friends, his teammates and the people of Iran by observing a moment of silence in his memory.
Accordingly, all athletes and sports fans present at the closing ceremony paid tribute to the Iran’s Golbarnezhad by holding a minute's silence.
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