Morteza Mehrzad delivered a dominant performance to guide Iran to their eighth Paralympic gold in men’s sitting volleyball, defeating long-time rivals Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1 (22-25, 30-28, 25-16, 25-12) in a thrilling final at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Mehrzad was in unstoppable form, racking up 27 points from 25 powerful attacks and two service aces. His efforts were bolstered by Hossein Golestani’s 21-point contribution, which included six service winners, while captain Davoud Alipourian added 13 points in a well-rounded Iranian performance.
On the Bosnian side, Ermin Jusufovic led the way with 16 points, built from 10 spikes and an impressive six blocks, but his side struggled to contain Iran’s relentless offence. Iran’s attacking prowess was on full display, outscoring Bosnia and Herzegovina 64-33 in spikes and 11-1 in service aces. Although Bosnia’s defence produced 19 blocks to Iran’s 10, they could not slow down the Iranian attack, particularly in the later sets.
Iran’s coach, Hadi Rezaei, had expressed his admiration for Bosnia and Herzegovina before the final, calling their rivalry “one of the most important games in the sport.” Rezaei said, “We greatly respect the Bosnia and Herzegovina team. I can tell you this, I hope that all people all around the world will witness one of the most important games in the sport. If we win the game, I will celebrate the victory. If our opponents win, it will be my absolute pleasure to be the first to congratulate them.”
The match proved to be as intense and memorable as Rezaei predicted, with both teams delivering a thrilling final.
The opening set saw Bosnia and Herzegovina strike first, capitalising on a failed attack from Meisam Ali Pour. This brief moment of control was quickly overturned by Iran, as Alipourian led a fierce attack, scoring three consecutive points, followed by three aces from Golestani to surge ahead 6-1. Iran maintained their lead for much of the set, but Bosnia and Herzegovina fought back, tying the score at 21-21 after back-to-back blocks from Adnan Manko and Nizam Cancar. An Iranian error gave Bosnia their first lead since the opening point, and further mistakes from Golestani and Ali Pour allowed Bosnia to reach set point at 24-21. Alipourian saved one, but Cancar’s final block secured the set for Bosnia 25-22.
Mehrzad made an immediate impact in the second set, firing off three towering spikes to give Iran an early 5-0 lead. Bosnia called for a timeout, but Iran’s momentum continued, with Mehrzad and Golestani leading the attack. Bosnia rallied once more, narrowing the gap to 18-18 with a series of sharp plays from Cancar and Safet Alibasic. The set became a tense back-and-forth battle, eventually reaching 28-28. Mehrzad then delivered a crucial cross-court spike to bring Iran to set point, and Jusufovic’s spike went wide to hand Iran the set 30-28, levelling the match at 1-1.
The third set saw Iran dominate from the start, capitalising on errors from Bosnia and quickly establishing a 3-0 lead. With Bigdeli and Golestani contributing key points and Mehrzad continuing his offensive onslaught, Iran controlled the set throughout. Mehrzad’s unstoppable presence at the net gave his team a commanding 22-13 lead, and Bosnia’s struggles on offence only worsened. A final attack error from Mirzet Duran handed Iran the set 25-16, putting them one step closer to gold.
In the fourth set, Alipourian opened the scoring and continued to feed the ball to Mehrzad, who showed no signs of slowing down. Mehrzad’s early points gave Iran a 4-2 edge, and despite Jusufovic’s best efforts to keep Bosnia in contention, Iran gradually pulled away. With Ali Pour and Mehrzad combining for a series of devastating attacks, Iran extended their lead to 15-6. Alipourian’s block on Jusufovic further widened the gap to 23-12, and as Bosnia’s attack faltered, Iran marched toward victory. Jusufovic’s final block earned Bosnia one last point, but Golestani’s attack and Ali Pour’s block sealed the match, giving Iran a dominant 25-12 set win and securing their eighth Paralympic gold.
Photo: WPV/Sinisa Kanizaj.
