Iran’s Head Coach, Mohammadreza Dastyar, makes only two changes to the roster of the men’s team that finished second in the 2017 Asia Oceania (AOZ) Championships, as they head to Hamburg to compete at the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.
The team, who lost to Australia in the final at the 2017 AOZ Championships, will see the return of experienced centre Morteza Ebrahimi, strengthening Iran’s firepower alongside the likes of Mohammadhasan Sayari and Omid Hadiazhar, who both received recognition at the AOZ Championships, being nominated in the All Star Five and as MVP of the tournament, respectively. There are eight players remaining from the team that finished 10th at the Rio 2016.
Dastyar said, "After the Iranian national team won second place at the AOZ Championships and won our spot at the World Championships in Germany, we immediately started our preparation exercises with 24 players and we are now fully prepared."
This will only be Iran’s second appearance at a World Championships, having made their debut at the 2014 World Championships in Incheon, South Korea where they finished eighth.
Iran will open their World Championships campaign against hosts Germany in Pool A, where they will also come up against Morocco and Canada in the first stage of the competition.
Iran men’s team for 2018 World Championships:
Hassan Abdi (2.0)
Omid Hadiazhar (4.0)
Vahid Saadatpoormoghadam (2.5)
Mohsen Tolouei Tamardash (3.5)
Mohammad Mohammad Nezhad (1.0)
Abdoljalil Gharanjik (1.5)
Adel Torfi Meneshdi (4.0)
Morteza Abedi (3.0)
Mohammadhasan Sayari (4.0)
Saman Balaghi Einalou (1.0)
Hakim Mansouri (2.0)
Morteza Ebrahimi (4.5)
