FIVB Names Saeed Marouf as World's Best Setter

TEHRAN (FNA) - Iranian volleyball athlete Saeed Marouf was selected as the best setter in the world today by the International Federation of Volleyball.

Date: 19 January 2015 - 20:43

News ID: ۹۹۲۷

"Mir Saied Marouflakrani, who is the best setter in the world today and received the best setter award for his performances at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World League and has also been hailed as the driving force behind Iran's recent rise to prominence, could play his first match with Zenit Kazan on Sunday," FIVB official site said.
Iranian Capitan joined Russian Zenith Kazan volleyball club last month.
The Asian champions had showed excellent consistency throughout the competitions last year, and for the first time in Iran's history secured a spot in the third round of 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championship in Poland.
Iran defeated two volleyball powerhouses in the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the group stage. In their first match, they defeated Italy 3-1, and then overpowered the US 3-2. They lost their next match against France 3-1, beat Belgium 3-1 and thrashed Puerto Rico 3-0.
Also, in the second round Iran won Australia, Argentina and Serbia and lost a match to the hosts, Poland, to qualify for the third round along with French and the Polish.
In the third round of the tournament Germany trounced Iran 3-0, and then were overpowered by France 3-2 to loose their chance for a spot in the final four.
Iran's national Volleyball team were overpowered by Russia in their last game of in the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship to stand sixth in the tournament.
Also, Kovac's men won the gold medal in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games in South Korea after beating Japan 3-1 in their last game of the tournament.
According to the latest FIVB ranking, the Islamic Republic of Iran is in the 10th spot in the world. Three-time defending champions Brazil remain the top-ranked volleyball team with 335 points after they won the silver medal in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, and are followed by Russia with 330 points, despite a disappointing fifth-place finish with Poland occupying the final podium spot after their excellent performance in front of their home fans at the Men's World Championship with 275 points.
Italy (fourth), the US (fifth), Argentina (sixth), Germany (seventh), Serbia (eighth), Bulgaria (ninth) and Iran (10th) complete the top 10.
Iran also had ranked fourth in the 2014 World League competitions in Italy last year.