France Eases Past Iran at World Olympic Qualification Tournament
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - France improved its win-loss record to 2-1, after the team defeated Iran in straight sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-22) at the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Laurent Tillie's men has already defeated China 3-1 and lost to Poland 3-2 in the competition.
France took advantage of the absence of Iran’s main hitter Amir Ghafour, as it was able to set up a wall on the other Iranian hitters.
Iran looked completely different without its main opposite spiker Ghafour, as Shahram Mahmoudi and Milad Ebadipour were forced to run their offence with minimal support from their teammates.
Mahmoudi topped all scorers with 19 points. Ebadipour chipped in 14 points on a losing effort for Iran. Antonin Rouzier looked sharp on his offence and scored 18 points, while Kevin Tillie had a good stint from the flanks, scored 13 points.
Iran will face Japan on Wednesday.
Eight strong teams are competing for the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament from May 28 to June 5 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
The qualification tournament in Tokyo, which also serves as the Asian qualification tournament, will provide the top ranked Asian team and the top three ranked teams with the four Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification slots available.
