Tehran, Iran, April 10, 2023: Iran’s men’s volleyball team will be chasing a golden hat-trick at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China this September and October.
After winning the gold medal for the first time at Incheon in 2014, they followed up by defending their title in Jakarta-Palembang in 2018 and now will be seeking a third straight gold in Hangzhou.
The Tehran Times reports that the team will begin preparations for a busy year by holding a joint training camp and friendly matches with Serbia in Tehran ahead of the 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL).
Iran, currently 10th in the FIVB men’s volleyball world rankings, will look to improve further on the seventh place they took in VNL 2022 as they take on the 2023 edition in June and July.
Their preliminary phase campaign starts on June 6 and includes matches in Nagoya, Rotterdam and Anaheim, California. If they qualify for the VNL Finals, they will travel to Gdansk, Poland for the event from July 19 through 23.
Later in the season, Iran will try to defend their continental title as they host the 2023 Asian Championship in Tehran from August 19-26. They will start the tournament in a pool with Hong Kong-China and Iraq.
Then comes the bid for a golden hat-trick in Hangzhou, where the trio of East Asian giants China, Japan and Korea will also be eyeing top spot on the podium. The draw for team sports will take place July 27.
Finally, Iran will join the qualifying battles for tickets to Paris 2024 as they travel to South America from September 30 to October 8 to take on Cuba, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Ukraine and hosts Brazil for two spots at the Olympic Games next year.