China lost to defending champions Iran 3-0 at the Asian Games men's volleyball quarterfinals on Sunday, making it their worst Games performance in history.
With strong spikes and solid blocking, Iran were dominant from the very beginning, leading 4-1 minutes into the first set. China managed to get their act together later and leveled the score 8-8.
The two sides took turns leading in the rest of the set, and though China got the first set point, it was Iran that capitalized on the chance to end the set 27-25.
With their first set down, China failed to turn the tide and lost two following sets 20-25 and 21-25.
Iran's Amir Ghafour topped the scoring chart with 17 points, followed by China's Zhang Zhejia and Iran's Morteza Sharifi, both with 12 points.
The two sides each had three players who scored in double digits.
Zhang Chen of China spikes during the Men's volleyball preliminary round group E match between Sri Lanka and China at the GBK volleyball indoor stadium on day seven of the Asian Games on August 25, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. /VCG Photo
"Iran wasn't as strong as we had imagined. We actually had a few chances today, but we failed to capitalize on them," said China coach Sheng Qiong after the match.
"We wanted to win, but we were not decisive enough in our actions," Shen added.
Shen said that in general his team has brought their normal play, especially as experienced setter Zhan Guojun wasn't able to compete due to injury.
"We actually did okay blocking, but failed to capitalize on our chances," he said.
But Shen also recognized that there is still a gap i talent between the Chinese men's volleyball team and the Iranian team.
"We have lost to Iran many times in recent years. We should learn from the losses and improve ourselves, especially in techniques," he said.
"I really hope our young players can learn from the games here and turn better in future games," he said.