Iran new world champion

TIJUANA & MEXICALI, Mexico - Iran vaulted into the volleyball history books to become the new 2007 Boy's Youth World Champion for the first time ever, with an electrifying 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 31-29, 15-7) victory over China in 130 minutes, in an spectacular all Asian final at the Gimnasio de Usos Multiples in the Mexican city of Tijuana on Sunday.

The second place for China is the best ever for the country in this FIVB event. This gold medal goes for Iran in addition of the silver and bronze obtained in Cairo 2001 and Thailand 2003, respectively.

The final was a nail-biting five set thriller where Ghiasi Motjaba was the finest and best scorer player on the court during the final with 30 points. For the Chinese side, Chen Ping scored 21 points. China had never made it through to a Boy's Youth World Championship final before and only participated in two occasions finishing in ninth position in 1999 and 2003 editions.

Earlier on Sunday in Tijuana hall, France grabbed the bronze medal after defeating Argentina 3-1 (25-20, 18-25, 26-24, 27-25) in almost two hours. The young European champions emerged victorious to close off what has been for this new generation of French players, an amazing World Championship.

Argentine Facundo Conte was best scorer of the match with 30 points, while Guillaume Quesque also did a good work for his colors triumph with 21 points. While this was the first time ever for France to step into the Top Four and climb on the podium, for Argentina it is only a repetition of the fourth place of the 2005 edition, when they lost the bronze medal to Italy.

Also in Tijuana, Poland came up with another good performance, winning Belgium for the fifth spot. The match ended 3-1 (25-13, 25-23, 17-25, 25-15). Maciej Krzywiecki led the winners with 17 points. The Belgium team can be satisfied with their surprising place in the "Elite Eight" of the world, as this was the first time for them participating in a Youth World Championship.

In the match for seventh place, Brazil, six-time world champion and one of the big deceptions of the tournament, needed four sets to defeat India 25-17, 25-22, 25-16, 25-16. Singh Mandeep from India added 17 points to his leading tournament total of 156.

In Mexicali for the 9-16 finals, Russia, defending two-time world champion and pre-tournament favorite will return home only with the ninth place. The Russians prevailed over the Germans 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-17). Ruslan Moskin was the best scorer of the match adding 28 points for the winners.

Earlier in the same site, Puerto Rico defeated host Mexico in straight sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-14) for the 11th place and Cuba dismissed Tunisia 3-1 (25-21, 30-32, 25-23, 25-21) for the 13th position. Finally, the USA was a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-19) winner over Egypt for 15th position as the Africans finished in the last place of the tournament.

Final Ranking

1. Iran, 2. China, 3. France, 4. Argentina, 5. Poland, 6. Belgium, 7. Brazil, 8. India, 9. Russia, 10. Germany, 11. Puerto Rico, 12. Mexico, 13. Cuba, 14. Tunisia, 15. USA, 16. Egypt

Individual Awards

MVP: Ghiasi Mojtaba (Iran)

Best Scorer: Singh Mandeep (India)

Best Attacker: Huang Bin (China)

Best Server: Rolando Cepeda (Cuba)

Best Blocker: Alireza Jadidi (Iran)

Best Setter: Nicolas Uriarte (Argentina)

Best Libero: Erik Shoji (USA)

Best Defender: Erik Shoji (USA)

Best Receiver: Dennis Del Valle (Puerto Rico)

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