Press release

Iran beat Japan to secure historic World League spot

Iran became the 26th country to qualify for the World League in what will be the 24th edition of the annual event next year

Tehran, Iran, September 9, 2012 – World No. 14 Iran secured an historic spot in the 2013 FIVB World League after defeating Japan 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-21) in Tehran on Sunday in the second leg of a two-match qualification series.

Iran won the first leg in convincing fashion (25-19, 25-14, 25-23) on Friday and only needed to win a set or have a superior points ratio to win a berth in the World League for the first time.

And thanks to Farhad Ghaemi, who top scored with 11 points, with regular scoring machine Shahram Mahmoudi ably supporting with 10, Sunday’s game in front of more than 15,000 fans saw Iran continue to dominate their visitors. Celebrations in the Azadi hall hit fever pitch when Iran won the first set. The rest of the game was elementary.

It was their sixth successive win against world No. 19 Japan dating back to last year. Like in game one, captain Tatsuya Fukuzawa top scored with 10 points but this time he was joined by Kunihiro Shimizu with the same number.

The World League qualification process allows two teams the opportunity to play off for the right to play in the annual men’s competition. The bottom two teams of the previous edition had to defend their places. Last weekend, Portugal, who finished 16th, lost to the Netherlands (who had earlier beaten the Dominican Republic in a first-round playoff) in two thrilling five set encounters in Rotterdam to return to the World League for the first time since 2010. Iran beat Egypt in their first-round encounter.

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