Iran defeats Finland in U19 world championship

TEHRAN,June 29(MNA)--Iran beat Finland in five sets (25-15, 25-18, 21-25, 25-27, 15-8) in the first match of Pool C in the 2013 FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in Tijuana, Mexico on Thursday. In the match held at the Multi-Purpose Gymnasium of Baja California High Performance Center, Mohammad Javad was the main offensive weapon of the winning side with 23 points followed by Akbar Valaei’s 19 points and 16 and 13 from Javad Hekmati and Shaland Allah respectively, FIVB wrote. Finland’s most productive players were Samuli Kaislasalo and Sakarin Makinen who each finished with 13 points. “I talked with my staff and my captain about how difficult this match was going to be due to the defensive qualities of Finland. And it was as we expected. We played two great first and second sets and then Finland raised its game. Normally at this level the players make a lot of mistakes but they are very consistent,” Iran coach Iraj Mozaffari said in the post-match news conference. Iran will play Russia on Saturday. After winning the 2007 edition of the Boys’ U19, Iran finished suffered a painful five-set defeat to the hands of Serbia in the gold medal match of 2009 at Palazzo del Turismo in Jesolo, Italy. They also won a silver medal in Cairo in 2001 and picked the bronze in 2003 in Thailand.