PAYKAN STUN SEPAHAN TO REMATCH WITH YAZD SHAHDAB IN IRANIAN MEN’S SUPER LEAGUE SHOWDOWN

In-form Tehran Paykan cruised past Sepahan twice in the semifinals to set up a rematch with Yazd Shahdab in the final showdown of the Iranian Men’s Super League at the Federation Hall.

The semifinal matches were held on a best-of-three basis where the team with two wins would be guaranteed a place in the final.

Powerhouses Paykan, which performed superbly to capture seven Asian Club titles (2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), overcame a strong challenge from Sepahan, the top team of the league with the most number of wins (20 wins overall) in the pool preliminaries, in the do-or-die semifinals.

In the first clash on March 4, Paykan brushed off Sepahan in thrilling three-setter 25-16, 25-21, 26-24 and still proved unbeatable against the same rivals, beating them in dramatic 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17) in their second meet.

Following a clean sweep of both wins in the semifinals, Paykan secured a slot in the final, where they are due to take on Yazd Shahdab.

Yazd Shahdab also made their mark in the semifinals following their straight two victories against reigning Asian Club champions Sirjan Foulad Iranian. In their first semifinal clash on March 4, Yazd Shahdab struggled to beat determined Sirjan Foulad Iranian in hard-fought three-set thriller 25-22, 25-21, 25-22.

Sirjan Foulad Iranian, which pulled off a stunning 3-1 win against Qatar’s Al-Arabi in the showdown to capture the last year’s Nakhon Ratchasima-hosted Asian Men’s Club Championship in Thailand, played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, battled hard in their second match, but still found Yazd Shahdab an impossible nut to crack to go down in closely-contested battle. Yazd Shahdab were through to the Super League final for the first time ever with a 3-1 (27-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22) win.

Contesting the same best-of-three format, the finalists should record two wins to land the eventual Super League title. In case of tie, the deciding match will be used to determine the eventual champions.

Paykan and Yazd Shahdab have already met two times in the pool preliminaries with one win apiece and now their rematch in the final showdown will decide their final fate.

Meanwhile, a number of online viewers watching the Super League semifinal matches live reached a record high as around 5500 fans turned out to watch the matches online via APARAT.

Match Results:

March 4

Yazd Shahdab b Sirjan Foulad Iranian 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22)

Paykan b  Sepahan 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 26-24)

March 6

Yazd Shahdab b Sirjan Foulad Iranian 3-1 (27-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22)

Paykan b Sepahan 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17)

Match Schedule

March 12

15:30pm: Yazd Shahdab v Paykan

March 14

15:30pm: Yazd Shahdab v Paykan

March 16: Decider (if needed)