Iran outclasses Egypt in straight sets at v-ball worlds

TEHRAN, Nov. 29(MNA)--Iran defeated Egypt in three straight sets on the second day of third-round action at the 2011 FIVB Men's World Cup on Monday. The Persians cruised past the African champion 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-15) at Marine Messe in Fukuoka, Japan. Mehdi Bazargarde once again paced Iran with a team-high 14 points. Reda Haikal was the best scorer for Egypt with 14 points. Iran captain Alireza Nadi was named the most impressive player of the match. “I think Egypt is a good and strong team, but they were tired. Today we played well,” Nadi said. He added, “I hope we can beat China on Tuesday.” Iran opened the competitions with a 3-1 victory over Japan but the Julio Velasco’s men lost to Cuba 3-0 in their second game. Afterwards, Iran stunned Serbia, Poland and Argentina. The team, however, lost to the U.S. on Sunday. "We are very happy for this victory after our 3-0 loss to the United States on Sunday. This was important for us. We played with very few mistakes against Egypt. Our serving, blocking and defense worked very well,” Velasco said.