Bank Sarmayeh win Asian Men’s Club Championship to secure 2017 World Championship berth

Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, August 31, 2016 – Bank Sarmayeh from Iran underlined their strength at the “SMM” 2016 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Wunna Thekdi Indoor Stadium in Nay Pyi Taw following a remarkable 3-1 victory over Qatar’s Al-Arabi Sports Club in the final showdown on Wednesday.A magnificent come-from-behind 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-16, 25-19) win in a pulsating 102-minute battle handed the Iranians the 11th title in the top-flight tournament, but also a berth to contest at the 2017 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship.Paykan Tehran became the first team from Iran to capture the Asian Men’s Club title in 2002 after a fantastic 3-1 win over compatriots Sanam Tehran. Sanam Tehran gave Iran a second title in 2004 before Paykan Tehran won the tournament in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Kalleh Mazandaran captured a 9th title for Iran at the 2013 edition – which took place in Iran – and Matin Varamin repeated the feat in 2014 in Pasay, the Philippines.In a battle of the two unbeaten teams in Wednesday’s showdown between Bank Sarmayeh and Al-Arabi Sports Club, Bank Sarmayeh fielded a strong offensive line-up including Shahram Mahmoudi, Milad Ebadipour Gharah, Farhad Ghaemi, Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi Seyed, Adel Gholami and Poland import setter Lukasz Zygadlo.Al-Arabi also had a strong roster comprising Saifeddine Aziz Elmajid, Renan Ribeiro, Serbian Uros Kovacevic, Ahmed Diab, Thiago de Oliveira Guimaraes and Brazil import hard-attacking Leandro Vissotto Neves. In the opening set, Al-Arabi started well with strong teamwork and consistency to lead initially 16-12 before stretching that to 24-20, thanks to their well-placed serves and scintillating blocks from Vissotto and Kovacevic. Bank Sarmayeh maintained their poise but Al-Arabi intensified their defence and won a crucial set point at 25-24. Diab hit the ball down to help the Qatari side win the hard-fought set 26-24.Conceding one set, the Iranians clawed their way back into the match and played better in the second set to lead 13-10. Shahram was among the top scorers for the Iranian side. With combination attacks and the opponent’s unforced errors, Bank Sarmayeh took a commanding 24-17 lead in the second set and Shahram once again ended their rivals’ challenge with a thundering cross-court spike down on the line. The Iranians clinched the set 25-18.The intense battle continued in the third set when the lead changed hands several times. Al-Arabi first took an early 3-0 lead before Iranian coach Mostafa Karkhaneh called a time-out to break the Qatari game. After that, the Iranians found their groove as …

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