Outside hitters Ahmed Said and Abdelrahman Elhosinny delivered the crucial points as Egypt took four sets to put away Iran, 25-17, 16-25, 25-23, 25-20, on Sunday in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.
Their big plays in the fourth set with Mohamed Hamada saw the Egyptian spikers joining the Group A lead with Tunisia, when action ended at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The 6’3” Said struck with 18 points, while Elhosinny knocked in 17 points for Egypt, which will have momentum on their side when they face the Philippines on Tuesday.
Said, whose effort included 16 attack points, an ace and a block, provided leadership in the last set, as his attacks with Elhossiny kept the Egyptians ahead, 19-16.
His blocks with Hamada then gave the Egyptians the distance they needed, 22-18, in the ensuing plays.
“It was a difficult game, from the first point to the last point. But we managed to get some distance,”said Elhosinny, one of the team’s skippers.
Ali Hajipour showed the way for Iran with 17 points.
Earlier, Tunisia pulled off a 25-13, 25-17, 25-23 beating of the Philippines in their opening encounter of the preliminaries last Friday.
In other matches, Argentina came out on top of their games with Finland, 19-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11 over at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City to move in front of Group C.
Belgium prevailed over Ukraine, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22, for the top spot in Group F.
