Iran
In the final match on Monday evening, Iran team took a well-earned win over the Egyptian squad in 3-1 (28-30, 27-25, 25-20,25-16) at the Palembang Sport and Convention Center in Palembang of Sumatra Island, Indonesia. It is for the second time Iran titled as they did 8 years ago in Saudi Arabia during the first Islamic Solidarity Games, which was held in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Under management of his young coach, Hussein Madani, ex-setter of the senior national team, Iran knocked out all his rivals (Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and Cameron) in the preliminary round and defeated home Indonesia in semifinals before they ascended into the final to compete with Egypt team.
The first set of the final witnessed both teams’ equal performance as the score rose alternately. Young Iranians showed their mismatched maturity at the key moment and eventually closed the first set by 30-28. The second set was almost a copy of the first but in Egypt’s favor instead while the scoreboard finally displayed 27-25.
Back again to the same start line, it was a very sensitive and crucial moment for both teams, who were just one step away from the gold medal and valuable champion title. Smartly considering the previous two sets, the young Iran coach made an important decision of substitution in the third set, which was proved totally right. Iran team got their self-confidence and rhythm. By bringing down their mistakes, Iran gradually put behind Egypt and won the third set 25-20.
Inspired from the third set, Iran played with more energy in the fourth set assuming it is the last set. They put big pressure on their rival and fully controlled the game. With 25-16, they finally beat Egyptian and stood at the first step of championship podium.
In the other match of the day, Turkey beat Indonesia 3-2 to claim the bronze medal in this edition of Islamic Solidarity Games.
The 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games opened in Indonesia on September 22, and closed on October 1, 2013. Athletes from 43 countries were in action across 13 sports. Beside volleyball they were competing in archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, football, karate, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, wushu and weightlifting.
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