2006 World Championships
Iran men one win away from Final Round (FIVB)
06/23/2005
Tehran, Iran, June 23, 2005 - Hosts Iran, ranked 23 in the world, clinched their second victory at the 2006 Men’s World Championships second round tournament - Asia Pool F by beating Uzbekistan 3-0 (25-21,25-16,25-21) on Thursday while Australia collected their first win by defeating first day winner’s Qatar in straight sets (26-24, 25-21, 25-13). After their first victory over Australia on Wednesday, Iran are now one-step away from the 2006 World Championships’ final round with a 2-0 record, while Australia and Qatar are second (1-1) with Uzbekistan in fourth place (0-2).

Strong spiking and tight defence were the key factors in Iran’s victory while Uzbekistan helped Iran’s cause by providing some poor receiving and serving.

In the earlier match, world number 22 Australia blanked Qatar for their first win to keep alive their hopes of participating in a Final Round playoff in India. Qatar defeated Uzbekistan in the first match of the tournament but couldn’t cope with a strong Australian side.

With the win, Australia is expected to finish second in the group and have a chance of reaching a playoff in India in early July against the other second placed teams from the other two Asian second round tournaments, including Korea (10), who were shock losers to Kazakhstan in the first Asian second round tournament last week.

However, Friday’s final day sees Australia play Uzbekistan and Iran take on Qatar and if Qatar pull off an upset and Australia win, anyone of Iran, Australia or Qatar could claim the Final Round ticket and play off spot.
(Released by FIVB)