Tehran, Iran, December 31, 2019: Iran volleyball head coach Igor Kolakovic is optimistic that his team can finish first at the Asian men’s qualifying tournament in China next month and book the sole ticket on offer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Iranians have been drawn in Pool A with China, Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan. Pool B consists of Australia, Qatar, India and Korea.
The qualifying tournament will take place at the Jiangmen Sports Centre Gymnasium from January 7-12.
“We have an important tournament ahead and we know that it will be a difficult task because all participating teams will be looking for a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” Kolakovic said at Iran’s training camp in Azadi Hall, Tehran.
“The year 2019 has been a busy calendar year for the FIVB and we have little time for recovery,” he added.
“We have a lot of faith in our team and are hopeful of winning a berth at the Olympics; that’s why we are here. We have no choice but to win a place at Tokyo,” the Montenegrin coach stated.
Iran will participate at the tournament without warm-up games.
“We invited Tunisia, Egypt and Qatar to Iran but they didn’t accept our invitation. France also said they would host us in January but it didn’t work out,” Kolakovic concluded.
Iran will start their campaign against Chinese Taipei on January 7 and will meet Kazakhstan and China in the following days.
Source: Tehran Times