Iran Steps closer to Rio by bringing a tie-break loss to China

Iran prevailed in a 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 17-25, 18-16) encounter with China to establish strong foothold on the spot for the top ranked Asian team at the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Thursday.
Iran coach Raul Lozano: “There was too much pressure and attention on both teams today, but I am happy that we won in the end and got closer to qualifying to the Rio 2016 Olympics Games.”
Iran captain Mir Saied Marouflakrani: “Our serve was not good today. China served and received well. Their side-out was perfect. I want to congratulate my team-mates. We were under a lot of pressure today. We have done a good job in this tournament.”
Iran player Adel Gholami: “The Iran volleyball community is happy now. China played good today. We were under big pressure to win today.”
China coach Xie Guochen: “We won two sets, but in key moments Iran showed their strength. We were overwhelmed by the pressure and weren’t able to show our real strength. For some of the our players this is their first major competition, but they played very well today. Our level is not as high as Iran. That was the reason for our loss today. We just have to play hard and not give up for the last two games.”
China captain Jiao Shuai: “It was an intense five-set match. We showed our strengths but we lost in the end.”
China player Yuan Zhi: “This game was very fruitful. We played to our full potential but we lost. Iran had a bit more fortune throughout this match.”