Manila, Philippines, May 28, 2024 – Aytak Salamat scored a massive 26 points on Tuesday afternoon to help Iran complete a 3-1 match (26-24, 26-24, 19-25, 25-19) against Hong Kong, China in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women.
Iran’s victory at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum earned them right to play for their best possible finish at fifth place.
“We had a lot of plans for this match. We are so happy that we could win today,” said Salamat, who remained with a lot of energy after playing four full sets.
Iran powered their offense from the flanks, with captain Salamat and Hedieh Taleifarkhondeh scoring. They showed good control of their passing, as they could activate Reyhane Karimi’s middle attack. While their opponents reaped the benefit upon misfires on serve and attack, Iran were able to take grip of the closing plays in the initial sets.
Hong, Kong China opened up their offense as plays were distributed across Chim Wing Lam, Shum Lam and Pang Wing Lam on attack. They also responded by performing well from the service area. This was key, particularly for a roster which needed to face a much taller line-up. In transition, they were patient in recycling their plays, finding the opportune time to make their move, as they took charge of the third set.
By the fourth set, Iran played more carefully, avoiding the flaws that marked their earlier plays.
Salamat continued with her power hits, but surely took much support from equally capable scorers such as Hediej, Shaghayegh Hassankhani and Reyhane Karimi who all posted with double figures.
Iran coach Padideh Boloorizadeh reflected upon the team’s performance, while according much regard to their opponents
”Most of the points that we lost were due to our own mistakes. In the previous match (against Australia) nearly the same thing happened. In very critical moments, we lost our serve, or we decided not to follow the ball.
“This match was a very good opportunity for us because their style of play is really close to the East Asian level. We really appreciate this opportunity to play against a team like Hong Kong, China. They were very fast and it was not easy for us to detect the ball early on,” she said.
Iran will aim to replicate their 5th place finish in the Surabaya edition in 2023 as they face India in Wednesday’s 13:00 match (local time).
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