Surprisingly, veterans Zarif (libero) and Tashakori (middle blocker) failed to make the final lineup.
Iran coach Raul Lozano has announced the 12-man squad that will make the country’s Olympic debut at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
Iran qualified by winning the Asian Volleyball Confederation’s berth at the FIVB World Olympic Qualifier in Japan. In Rio they will start in Pool B against defending Olympic champions Russia, FIVB world champions Poland, Argentina, Cuba and Egypt.
Iran Olympic Squad
1. Shahram Mahmoudi
2. Milad Ebadipour
4. Saeid Marouf
5. Farhad Ghaemi
6. Seyed Mohammad Mousavi
7. Hamzeh Zarini
9. Adel Gholami
10. Amir Ghafour
13. Mahdi Mahdavi
14. Mohammadjavad Manavinezhad
15. Mostafa Sharifat
19. Mahdi Marandi
“We will be taking another step up at the Olympic Games and we need to aim to win our pool round matches to finish in first place,” Lozano said. “Then we will think of the quarterfinal and the chance to face a powerful team that will probably be France, Brazil or Italy.”
Iran have become a growing volleyball power since they won the 2011 Asian Championship. They retained their continental title in 2013 and used the confidence of that success to fuel their run at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World League, where they finished fourth.
They missed out on the World League Final Six this year, but in Lozano have a coach who helped Poland to silver at the 2006 World Championship.
“We have 14 training days up to Rio and we have to use this opportunity,” Lozano said. “The players rested for a few days (after the World League), but the training camp is already organised.
“The player’s priority is to get fit and work on their individual technique, then they will work together as a team for the next two weeks.”
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