Iran
Despite a vast amount of depth in the
junior ranks two decades ago Iranian
Volleyball was failing to realize its
potential. However, since M.R. Yazdani
Khorram was put in charge of the
Volleyball Federation of Iran, things have
changed dramatically and the exciting
younger talent in Iran started to bear
fruit.
 Further
appointments of S. Derakhshandeh as
manager and international relations
director and M. Karkhaneh as the head
coach the process has quicken ten-fold.
Following ninth and eight place
finishes at the World Championships in
1997 and 1999 respectively, the Iranian
team showed how much they have improved
when they finished runner's up to Brazil
in the 2001 edition of the Boy's U19 World
Championship in Egypt and this year they
will definitely in contention again for
U19 glory in Thailand.
Following their second place finish at
the 2003 Asian Championship, Iran are
expected to be another dominant force in
Thailand with their height and well
developed team combinations coming to the
fore.
This year's Asian Championship result
continues the excellent progress made by
the Iranian Junior Men's team in Asia
where they triumphed at the 1998 and 2002
Asian Championships and finished third in
2000.
|
