Argentina and Iran cruise

Dubai - UAE go down fighting; Brazil, Turkey impress in 2015 FIVB U23 Championship.

Argentine and Iranian spikers chalked out victories in groups B and A respectively in the 12-team league cum knockout 2015 FIVB Men's U23 World Championship.
Argentina, recovering after their opening round loss to Turkey on Monday, cut across the Mexican lines for a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-14) victory at Al Ahli Club in the late evening game on Tuesday while Iran, after suffering a first set reverse against Asian runners-up South Korea, powered to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-22) win in Group A at Al Nasr Club in another fixture.
Brazil began their campaign on Monday night beating Mexico 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-16). Also on Tuesday, Cuba and Turkey established themselves as strong contenders when registering 3-0 victories over Egypt and Tunisia in groups A and B respectively.
Asian champions Iran had opened their account with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-20) victory over hosts UAE in Group A at Al Nasr hall, late on Monday night.
The UAE went down fighting to Iran who have been training for the past six months. Powerful Javad Hosseinabadi of Iran was unstoppable on the right flank with his killer smashes and amassed 14 points for a fantastic 27 per cent share of his team's tally. Considered to be among the top five players in the age group in the world, he took advantage of the height advantage the Iranians enjoyed.
Attacker Adel Al Blooshi and setter Abdulla Al Suwaidi kept the hosts afloat in the third set when the inexperienced but determined Emiratis gave their best, while Iran's Fardin Ghalehghovand and the brilliant libero Rasoul Shahsavari Nejad added more firepower to their impressive armoury.
In the third set, the UAE kept the points gap to the minimum when trailing 3-8, 6-9 and 11-16, thanks to the better organised receiving work they came up with.
Iran skipper Fayazi Damnabi, said: "The important thing is that we won our first match here. We have to increase our concentration."
"The UAE did their best throughout the match and I consider this as an important preparation for the second match," Iran head coach Akbari Payman said.
Morad Sennoun, the UAE's Algerian coach said: "We played our best against a very strong team and we improved set by. This was a good indication that we will improve in future and for our next game versus Italy."
UAE captain Abdalla Alswaidi, said: "A word of sorry goes to our supporters but we promise to do better in the rest of our matches."
Brazil who won the inaugural chapter at home two years ago, were the most impressive side on the opening day with a commanding 3-0 win over Mexico in a late evening Group B clash at Al Ahli Club, on Monday.
Alan Souza led the field with 16 points and he won 13 of them with spikes alone. Roberto Rincon and Humberto Ceballos scored six winners each for Mexico.
Brazil dominated the game from beginning till the end. After a quick start, they gained a five points advantage at 10-5. Thanks to Alan Souza and Leandro Santos' points they never looked back and won the set comfortably to give an indication of their potential.
moni@khaleejtimes.com