PressTV

The Iran men's national under-23 volleyball team has blanked Pakistan to register its second resounding win at the preliminary round of the 19th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship in Indonesia.

The Iranian team, which had stormed past Iraq 3-0 in its opening match the previous day, brushed off the South Asian squad 3-0 (25–23, 25–22 and 25–14) in a Pool B match of the competitions on Tuesday.

Amin Esmaeilnejad scored a match-high of 20 points for Iran, while Aimal Khan led Pakistan with 15 points.

“We knew that Pakistan team would appear in its strongest form against us. Of course, our team made numerous mistakes throughout the first set. Whilst Pakistanis were gradually building up self-confidence at the onset of the match, our players had lost it.

“Such developments are natural during a match, and will definitely broaden the experience of my players. Fortunately, [Iran] players could recuperate as the game progressed and regained their self-confidence to snatch the final victory,” Iran’s U-23 head coach Juan Manuel Cichello said after the match.

The Iranian team will play against Chinese Taipei in its last preliminary round match on Wednesday.

The 2017 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship is the 19th edition of the biennial international tournament organized by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC).

It opened in Gresik, Indonesia, on July 24, and will run through August 1, 2017. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran is pitted against Chinese Taipei, Iraq and Pakistan in Pool B of the volleyball competitions.

Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are in Pool A.

Pool C consists of Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Australia, China, Hong Kong and Thailand are drawn in Pool D.