Sirjan Foulad, Urmia Shahrdari off to Winning Starts in Semifinal

Tehran, Iran, March 5, 2021 – Sirjan Foulad and Urmia Shahrdari got their semifinal campaign in the Iran Men’s Volleyball Super League off to brilliant starts following their wins on the opening day at Federation Hall on Friday.

Top four teams after the playoff round of the Iran’s top-flight professional League had secured their berths in the semifinal round, which is being held on March 5 and 7.

In the best-of-three semifinals, Amol Haraz Labaniat should go up against Urmia Shahrdari and Sirjan Foulad will challenge Sepahan Foulad. Each team are supposed to play twice against the same opponents.

On the first day of their semifinal campaign in the away round, Sirjan Foulad, the fourth-ranked team of the table in the preliminaries, powered their way to a clean sweep against Sepahan Foulad, the top side after the conclusion of the 30-week preliminary round.

Both sides had the similar performance with two consecutive wins in the playoff. In the semifinal this time, Sirjan Foulad as the champion of half-season proved stronger to beat the tough rivals in straight sets 25-20, 25-20, 28-26.

The second encounter saw Urmia Shahrdari, the second-ranked team after the preliminary round, face an uphill task against Haraz Labaniat, the team finishing sixth after the preliminaries. Urmia Shahrdari managed a hard-fought 3-2 (29-27, 30-28, 21-25, 19-25,15-12) win against Haraz Labaniat.

Meysam Salehi scored a match-high 34 points for Urmia Shahrdari, while Shahrooz Homayounfarmanesh chipped in with 29 points for Haraz Labaniat.

Farhad Ghaemi as one of the key players of Haraz Labaniat injured in the match and there might be no chance to see him in the home match of the semifinal against Urmia Shahrdari.

To qualify for the final showdown, teams must win both matches. If two teams end up in a 1-1 tie, the third match will be held to decide the eventual winning team for a place in the final.

MATCH RESULTS

Semifinals

March 5, 2021

Away Matches

Sirjan Foulad b Sepahan Foulad 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 28-26)

Urmia Shahrdari b Amol Haraz Labaniat 3-2 (29-27, 30-28, 21-25, 19-25,15-12)

March 7, 2021

Home Matches

10:30 GMT – Amol Haraz Labaniat v Urmia Shahrdari

13:30 GMT – Sepahan Foulad v Sirjan Foulad

All matches will be displayed live via online streaming on YouTube as well as on the official website of Iran Volleyball Federation. The direct links are as follows:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOtJXdhXpdrmkdp1qce7Blw

https://volleyball.ir/livetv