Grand Champions Cup/ Iran give Japan the 2nd Surprise

Nagoya, Japan, September 13, 2017 – Milad Ebadipour boosted the confidence of Iran to record a 3-2 (20-25, 17-25, 27-25, 25-21, 15-12) win over USA in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Grand Champions Cup at the Nippon Gaishi Hall on Wednesday.
Ebadipour, who was contained by USA in the first two sets, stepped up on offence and finished with 18 points. Amir Ghafour and Mohammadjavad Manavinezhad were among the Iranian players vital in comeback, scored 15 and 11 points, respectively. Matthew Anderson and Taylor Sander made 17 points apiece on a losing effort.
Iran maintained their clean win-record, while USA dropped to 1-1 in the 2017 edition of the World Grand Champions Cup. Five of Iran’s six wins at the tournament have come in five sets.

USA fielded in a powerful combination of players led by Sander and Anderson who dominated in attacks to overwhelm Iran in the first two sets. USA led in the third set but lost its grip as Iran setter Saied Marouf made brilliant plays for his hitters. Ebadipour made up for his previous attack mistake to put Iran ahead at 27-26, until Manvinezhad’s strong spike close the set in their favour. Iran had momentum on their side and took advantage of USA’s string of errors to win the last two sets.