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JUNE 15, 2015
Iran, Georgia Ink MoU to
Boost Sports, Cultural
Cooperation
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran and
Georgia signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) in a bid to promote mutual cooperation between the
two countries in diverse sports and
cultural areas.
The agreement was inked during
a meeting between Iranian Minister
of Sports and Youth Affairs Mahmoud Goudarzi and his Georgian
counterpart, Tariel Khechikashvili,
on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Baku 2015 European
Games on Friday.
At the meeting in Azerbaijan, the
two minsters stressed the need for
sports and cultural relations between the Iranian and Georgian
youths.
Goudarzi in this meeting hailed
the opportunity for the expansion
of cultural and sports ties and expressed the hope that Iran and Georgia can boost the level of bilateral
cooperation.
The 2015 European Games, also
known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015
European Games, are the inaugural
edition of the European Games, an
international multi-sport event for
athletes representing the National
Olympic Committees (NOCs) of
Europe.
Kovac: We Forced Russia
to Make Mistakes
MOSCOW (FNA)- Iranian
coach Slobodan Kovac believes
that his men put pressure on the
Russians, forcing the world number two ranked side into mistakes, after the Asian champions
won Russia 3-1 in the 2015 FIVB
World League in Kazan on Saturday.
Iran won their fifth away
match of the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World League in Kazan,
defeating Russia 3-1 (20-25, 2516, 25-19, 25-23).
“We changed the game after
the second set, and started to
win,” Iran’s coach said.
“We tried to do maximum,
and served well. The main
point is that Russia was
forced to make mistakes,” the
Serbian added.
Iran showed better consistency throughout their fifth match
in this year’s World League,
and great blocking from Seyed
Mohammad Mousavi and wonderful attacks from Mojtaba
Mirzajaanpour and also Milad
Ebadipour lead the guest to
their first valuable victory in
Russia.
“It was a difficult match
for both teams. Russia started
really well. It is important we
came back to the game in the
second set, and Russia made
World League match with a
same 3-1 loss. The Asian champion also defeated by Poland in
their third and fourth game in
Kovac: We Forced Russia to Make Mistakes
a lot of mistakes. I hope tomorrow the result will be the
same,” Saeid Marouf said.
Now in poll B, the US has
stood atop of Pool B with 17
points and are followed by Poland (11 points), Iran (4 points)
and Russia (1 point).
Earlier, Iran were overpowered by the US in their first and
second 2015 FIVB Volleyball
the competition, but succseed
to earn one point from European side.
The National Iranian volleyball team had ranked fourth in
the FIVB 2014 World League,
gaining the best title among the
Asian teams which have participated in the 25-year history of
the league.
Brazil (9 times), Italy (8 times),
Russia (3 times), Cuba (once),
the Netherlands (once), Poland
(once) and the US (twice) are the
seven countries which have won
the World League during its previous 25 editions.
Also, Iran had ended the 2014
FIVB Volleyball Men’s World
Championship in sixth place by
beating world powerhouses like
the US and Italy.
According to the latest FIVB
ranking in 2014, the Islamic Republic of Iran is in the 10th spot
in the world. Three-time defending champions Brazil remain the
top-ranked volleyball team with
335 points after they won the
silver medal in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship,
and are followed by Russia with
330 points, despite a disappointing fifth-place finish with Poland
occupying the final podium spot
after their excellent performance
in front of their home fans at the
Men’s World Championship with
275 points.
Italy (fourth), the US (fifth),
Argentina (sixth), Germany (seventh), Serbia (eighth), Bulgaria
(ninth) and Iran (10th) complete
the top 10.
Muslim Girls Design Sports Uniform
WASHINGTON (IQNA) - With
the help from University of Minnesota, young Muslim girls in Minneapolis have designed a new uniform
for their basketball team, that is regarded as religiously appropriate.
“I wouldn’t be able to do moves
or anything because of my skirt
and every time I run my wrap
will keep falling,” Sihal Ali,
a Muslim in Cedar-Riverside
community basketball team,
told USA Today.
Playing as a point guard in her
team, Ali’s long skirt made scoring
points difficult.
Their problems came to an end
when University of Minnesota Design School and the Tucker Center
for Research on Girls and Women
in Sport offered a helping hand to
design a new sports uniform for the
girls.
“The girls really want to be cul-
turally and religiously appropriate
and wear appropriate clothing, but
the longer skirts could sometimes
get in the way of physical activity,”
said Dr. Chelsey Thul, a lecturer at
the U of M’s School of Kinesiology who also does research for the
Tucker Center.
The new uniform, in red color,
features leggings, a long tunic and
tighter hijab.
“I don’t even have to focus about
what I’m wearing. I just play the
game,” Ali said.
The United States is home to a
Muslim minority of between six to
eight million.
A US survey has also revealed
that the majority of Americans
know very little about Muslims and
their faith.
Islam sees hijab as an obligatory
code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.
Alireza Mansourian
Close to Esteghlal
Move
TEHRAN (Persian League)- Alireza Mansourian has taken a step
closer to joining Esteghlal football
club as a coach. Club’s president
Bahram Afsharzadeh confirmed
the negotiations with the former
blue giants’ player.
“Mansourian is one of the can-
sional football at the end of the
2007–08 season where Esteghlal
became Hazfi Cup Champion.
He started his coaching career in
2009 where he was head coach of
Pas for four months.
In August 2010, Afshin Ghotbi
chose Mansourian as his assistant
Mansourian
didates while we are in talk with
three other coaches,” Afsharzadeh told reporters.
Mansourian had a brilliant
season with Naft Tehran and
led them to a third place finish
in the Iran Pro League as well
as a runner-up place in Hazfi
Cup.
He also led debutant Naft to this
season’s AFC Champions League
quarter-final.
Mansourian, who played majority of his playing time for Esteghlal, bade farewell to profes-
coach for the Iran national football team. After resignation of
Ghotbi as head coach of national
team, Mansourian was named as
interim coach until the appointment of Carlos Queiroz. He also
coached Iran in a 1–0 win against
Russia.
On 28 April 2011, he became
head coach of the Iranian national
under-23 football team. On 2 January 2014, Mansourian resigned
as head coach of Iran’s under-23
side. He was replaced with Nelo
Vingada.
Iran Wins Title in Asian
Cadet Greco-Roman
Wrestling Championship
NEW DELHI( IRNA) – After
two Iranian wrestlers advanced
to the final game of the Asian Cadet Wrestling Championship on
Sunday, the Iranian Greco-Roman
wrestling team becoming champions in the tournament underway in
New Delhi, India.
Iran’s Saeed Yousefi in 85-kg
weight category, defeated rivals
from India and Uzbekistan 2-0
and 7-2 respectively to advance to
the final game.
Amin Mirzadeh, the other Iranian wrestler, first knocked down
a rival from India and then beat
another rival from Kyrgyzstan 8-0
on his way to the final game.
Iranian wrestlers have won one
gold medal, nine silver medals
and a bronze one in the competitions.
Representatives from 17 countries, namely, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Taiwan,
South Korea, North Korea, Syria,
Iraq, the UAE, Thailand, Mongolia and Pakistan, are present in the
tournament.
Yao Ming Runs in
24-hour Relay Race
BEIJING (Xinhua) -- Former
NBA star Yao Ming took part in a
24-hour city relay race in Beijing
here on Sunday.
Yao’s team also included renowned TV anchor Bai Yansong,
NBA commentator Xu Jicheng
and pop singer Xu Fei.
The 2.26-meter-tall Yao, who
retired from basketball in 2011,
ran one lap in Saturday’s afternoon and another lap on Sunday
morning. Each lap is 3.5 kilometers.
“When I was a basketball player, running was part of my work.
But now, I only run for fun,” Yao
said.
The 24-hour relay race kicked
off at 3 pm on Saturday and concludes at 3 pm Sunday.
One runner per team is allowed
to stay on the track at one time
and teams need to run as many
laps as possible.
Around 2,000 people from
174 teams took part in the relay
race.