Iran and Czechia pulled off contrasting victories on Tuesday to advance to the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship quarterfinals.
The Iranians, who ended the Philippines’ run last Thursday, survived yet another grueling five-set match after escaping world no. 13 Serbia with a 23-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22, 15-9 victory in the Round of 16 match.
Ali Hajipour and team captain Morteza Sharafi both posted 23 points with the latter anchoring it on 18 attacks, three blocks, and two aces as they completed the comeback win to reach the quarterfinals for the first time after 11 years.
Iran was the first to clinch the set point in the third frame after Sharafi returned an overpass with authority for a 24-23 lead. But Serbia responded with three straight points to move a set away from advancing to the top eight.
Iran, though, refused to give up and staged a massive fightback in the fourth with 21-year-old Ali Haghparast shattering the Serbian wall to reach the set point, 24-22, before Morteza went over a triple block to drag the game into a fifth set.
Iran used all that momentum in the deciding frame as middle blocker Mohammed Valizadeh completed a quick attack that saw them take a 10-5 cushion.
He converted a similar play to bring Iran to a 13-7 advantage while Morteza unleashed a hammer from the left wing for the match point, 14-8. A Drazen Luburic service error finished it off for Iran, which last made the quarterfinals in 2014.
Iran is the only Asian team alive in the tournament.
In the first game, Czechia dominated Tunisia, 25-19, 25-18, 25-23, to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in history behind the troika Patrik Indra, Jan Galabov, and Lukas Vasina.
Indra led the way with 14 points while both Galabov and Vasina posted 13 markers as they ousted Tunisia from contention.
It was a historic moment for Czechia, clinching its first-ever top-eight spot, as even its predecessor Czechoslovakia last saw quarterfinal action nearly four decades ago in 1986.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News