The Iranians started cautiously against the talented Chinese Taipei side and had problems with control. But as the first set wore on, they became more confident and from 10-10 took control of the set and the match. They took early leads in the remaining two sets and never looked back.
Iran coach Iraj Mozaffari commented: “Actually, the previous match was the first experience for my players, but today they took control early and performed really well. The Chinese Taipei team is a clever team with good combinations. They know volleyball very well.”
In the last match of the day, the powerful Japan team overcame Thailand in straight sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-13) in a match that lasted just over an hour.
After defeating India and Turkmenistan, the Japanese continued their winning ways against the Thais and will next face China.
The closest match of the day was between two of the less experienced teams, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, with the Kazakhs taking the honours in five sets (21-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-13, 15-9) after dropping the first two.
Meanwhile, Korea stopped Sri Lanka, who put up strong resistance but couldn’t match the powerful Koreans, who won 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-21).
“The Korean team is more experienced and they were very fast and defended well,” said Sri Lanka coach Channa Jayasekara.
Korean captain Jeong Dong-Geun admitted his team played well on the day: “Today, we were very good. All of us had a strong passion to win and the whole team concentrated really well.”
India also put up a good fight against China, but fell 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-19).
Zhang Zhejia was China’s top scorer with 12 points, while Atul Kuma Singh had nine for the Indian team.
The tournament is a qualifier for next year's World Championship.
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