Mahmoudi dedicated the straight-set win to their supporters
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 13, 2016 – Shahram Mahmoudi of Iran topped all scorers in their straight-set win over Egypt in Pool B of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men’s volleyball competition at Maracanazinho on Saturday,
Mahmoudi was happy to dedicate this big achievement of advancing to the quarterfinals as a present to their supporters.
Raul Lozano, Coach of Iran:
The team played better and we are happy to get the victory. There were a lot of nerves and tension because we want to move to the quarterfinals, so this was an important match. We tried our best to stay calm and play the best we did, and it worked out for us.
Shahram Mahmoudi, Player of Iran:
It’s really feels good to win this match. We enjoyed playing this difficult game and it was worth it because we have qualified to the quarterfinals, which is a big achievement because this is our first time and we are in the quarterfinal round. This is a gift to the Iranian people because they have supported us in good times and even in bad times.
Sherif El Shemerly, Coach of Egypt:
We started the match well, we played hard in the beginning to stay in the game. We played well in the first set and we were at par with the other side. We also tried very hard in the second set, but they still ended up winning the set at 25-22. We lost another player because of injury. I could not do anything much because there is already a shortage of players on my end. We commited a lot of mistakes in the last set with our defence and attack. Iran had better concentration and they played better transition and counter-attack. They also played better defence than us.