Iran Volleyball Says Goodbye to Olympics
RIO (Tasnim) – Iran failed to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men’s volleyball semifinals after suffering a 3-0 (31-29, 25-19, 25-17) defeat to Italy.
The Italians have been in the Olympic semifinals for six times and have won a total of five medals, including two silver medals and three bronze medals.
Three Italian players scored in double-figures, led by Ivan Zaytsev, who tallied 18 points. Osmany Juantorena and Filippo Lanza contributed 16 and 11 points, respectively.
The Iranian hitters were held to score in single digits. Shahram Mahmoudi led Iran with eight markers, then Adel Gholami and Mojtaba Mirzajanpour had seven points each.
Brazil, USA, Russia and Italy have qualified for the semifinals.
Iran just defeated Cuba and Egypt in the competition and lost to Argentina, Poland, Russia and Italy.