TEHRAN – Reigning Asian champions Foolad Sirjan from Iran caused the biggest upset of the opening day of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship 2024, downing Italian giants Cucine Lube Civitanova on Tuesday in Uberlândia.
Making just their second appearance in the tournament, Foolad secured their first-ever victory at the world stage, beating the 2019 world champions Lube in a five-set battle that saw they come out on top 3-2 (25-21, 14-25, 24-26, 25-23, 16-14) in Pool A.
Besides the Iranian team, whose full name is Foolad Sirjan Iranian, Italy’s Itas Trentino, Brazil’s Sada Cruzeiro and Egypt’s Al Ahly SC also triumphed at the Sabiazinho stadium in the first of four days of pool play action in Brazil.
The MVP in their campaign at the Asian Championship, opposite Ali Hajipour led the team’s offense with 18 points (16 kills, two blocks). Outside hitter Alireza Abdolhamidi, with 15 points (13 kills, one block, one ace), and middle blocker Mohammad Valizadeh, with 12 (eight kills, two blocks, two aces), also had solid performances.
Lube’s French two-time Olympic champion middle blocker Barthélémy Chinenyeze topped all scorers with 21 points (16 kills, three aces, two blocks). Bulgarian outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov and Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija contributed 18 and 17 points, respectively.
In the opening match of the tournament, which featured another duel between Italians and Iranians, five-time world champions Trentino had no issues securing their first victory in Pool B. Helped by a strong start, the Europeans downed Shahdab Yazd 3-0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-21) to start their campaign in Uberlândia.
World champion outside hitters Daniele Lavia, with 12 points (11 kills, one block), and Alessandro Michieletto, with ten (seven kills, two aces, one block), led the Italian victory. Cuban national team middle blocker Javier Concepción scored ten points for Shahdab, with six kills, two blocks and two aces.