Sarmayeh Bank of Iran will represent Asia to compete in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship after taking the overall trophy at the 2017 AVC Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Ninh Binh province on July 6.

Sarmayeh Bank of Iran take the overall trophy. 

The final clash witnessed fierce competition between the Iranian team and Japanese club, Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza, with Sarmayeh Bank struggling to secure three straight sets for an aggregate 3-0 victory.

After pocketing a narrow 39-37 win in the first set, Iran’s representatives went on to claim the second set at 25-14 before finishing victorious in the third and final set with a score of 25-23.

Earlier on the same day, Al-Arabi (Qatar) impressively defeated Altay (Kazakhstan) 3-1 to wrap up the campaign in third-place position.

Despite making the quarterfinals, the Vietnam national team had failed to advance further after losing 0-3 to Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza.

The seventh-eighth place playoff between Vietnam and the Chinese Taipei team was held at the Nam Dinh Gymnasium, which saw the strong visitors come from behind to beat the host side for a dramatic 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-17) victory.

It was the first time the Vietnam Volleyball Federation had been granted permission to organise the Asian-level competition for men.

The ten-day tournament brought together 13 men’s volleyball clubs and national teams in the region, including Canberra Heat (Australia), China Beijing Baic Motor (China), Yan Chai (Hong Kong), Sarmayeh Bank (Iran), Al-Bahri (Iraq), Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza (Japan), Altay (Kazakhstan), Al-Arabi (Qatar), Air Force (Thailand), Maldives, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei and the Vietnamese national team.

Nhan Dan