Czechs rally past Iranians to extend dream FIVB run
Now that it has made its first-ever semifinal appearance in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship as an independent nation, there are obviously no plans for Czechia to stop writing more of its sporting history.
Czechia’s dream run continued after overcoming a first-set defeat before knocking out Iran, 22-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-21, on Thursday at Mall of Asia Arena, as the Czechs reached the Final Four for the first time since finishing fourth 55 years ago when the nation was still known as Czechoslovakia.
And they have no plans of stopping their run as they battle the winner of the USA-Bulgaria going on at press time. That match is slated on Saturday.
“Historic moment for us. Our team, for the moment, has no limits,” said Czechia coach Jiri Novak. “We take the games how they come, we prepare and we play together and this is the result.”
Novak believes that his team could make an impressive run in this World Championship, where they took down Tunisia in the round of 16.
“I knew that in the team I have the guys with big, big potential,” he said. “I saw a lot of positive things during practices. But you never know in big competition, it’s a lot of small things which decide the success in the end.”
Setter Lubos Bartunek maximized the offensive firepower of Czechia with 34 excellent sets, as Patrik Indra and Lukas Vasina boosted the Czechs with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
“It means a lot for Czechia. It’s not common for our teams to make the quarterfinals in any sport, except hockey,” said Bartunek. “So this is really a big achievement for the Czech Republic.
“It’s history, and it happened because we fought together like a team in every match.”
Antonin Klimes chipped in eight points for Czechia, while Jan Galabov and Adam Zajicek added seven points each.
“I still don’t know, because I still can’t believe we’re in the top four in the world. It’s f-cking crazy. Sorry for the word,” said Bartunek.
Bartunek and their coach are one in saying that anything can happen in the semifinal, as they brace for either the USA or the fast-rising Bulgaria.
“We will play against one of two big teams, Bulgaria and USA. We will see. Bulgaria is a young team, USA also, because they are preparing [for] the Olympic Games 2028,” said Novak.
Poriya Hossein Khanzadeh and Ali Hajipour led Iran with 18 points each. Morteza Sharifi delivered 11 points.
Iran’s impressive run ended exactly a week after Team Melli pulled off an amazing comeback against Alas Pilipinas.
