Kish Island, Iran, February 17, 2017 - The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Kish Island 3-Star 2017 main draw matches are make-or-break bouts for the teams participating, with the single elimination format in place.
A team that had to learn this bitter lesson were Mohammad Sadeghi Malati and Mojtaba Amiri of Iran. After a sensational win over Switzerland’s Adrian Heidrich/Gabriel Kissling in their qualification match, the Iranian pair hit an important career milestone by making their first-ever World Tour main draw appearance.
Their journey in the main draw, however, was short-lived as they fell to Youth Olympic gold medallists Oleg Stoyanovkiy and Artem Yarzutkin of Russia in the Round of 32.
“We knew Stoyanovskiy/Yarzutkin are very powerful,” said Sadeghi. “They were serving really well. I think that was the reason why we were not able to find our game.”
Sadeghi nevertheless is convinced that the games they played at Kish Island are crucial for their development as players and a team.
“I think we gathered some really important experiences that hopefully will help us improve in our evolution as players.”