Iran settled for silver in Paralympics sitting volleyball

TEHRAN,Sept.10(MNA)--Iran’s sitting volleyball team lost 3-1 to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the final of 2012 London Paralympics on Saturday to claim the silver. Bosnia-Herzegovina exacted revenge on Iran for their Paralympic final defeat in Beijing four years ago, to win gold. The Balkan team, seven-times European champions, took the match 3-1, fighting back after losing the first set 19-25 at the Excel arena on the final full day of competition at the Games. "After we lost the first set we realized that the only way for us to win was to attack only. That's how we tipped the balance," said Bosnia captain Sabahudin Delalic. The match could have swung the other way, however, with the second set at one point tied at 18-all but Bosnia landed their spikes more accurately and took the set 25-21, which gave them confidence to win the third 25-22. Iran looked beaten in the fourth as Bosnia surged to an 18-13 lead and held on for the win, 25-15. A dejected Iran coach Hadi Rezaei said afterwards: "I accept full resposibility for the loss. It was my fault. It wasn't my or our day today." Reza Peidayesh added: "Physically they were very strong. We tried our best and did all we could but we lost today."