Aytak Salamatgharamaleki led Iran to overcome a tight opening set loss to defeat Chinese Taipei in four sets, 24-26, 25-20, 25-18, 28-26, securing their first win in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Team captain Salamatgharamaleki fired a game-high 23 points, with 22 coming from attacks, to help the Iranians bounce back and improve their record to 1-1 in Pool B after losing to India in their opening game last Wednesday.
Elaheh Poorsaleh added 18 points, all from attacks, while Reyhane Karimi tallied 11 points on eight attacks, two aces, and one block for Iran in the two-hour, nine-minute victory.
“It was necessary to keep calm. We do not have much experience, but now that we’re in our second match, we watched their movements and we listened to all that coach said,” commented setter Dorsa Fallahkordkheli.
“Most of our team is young. We develop our experience every match so that we can improve. We believe in ourselves and we try to be better every game,” she added.
Iran will take on the Philippines in hopes of securing their second consecutive win on Saturday at 7:00 PM at the same venue.
Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei was pushed to the brink of elimination after suffering their third defeat in as many games.
Hsu Fang-Min led with 21 points for Chinese Taipei, who have now lost to Australia, India, and Iran, respectively.
The pair of Lin Liang-Tai and Huang Chun-Jia added 11 points each in a losing cause.
Chinese Taipei will try to bounce back against the Philippines as well on Sunday at 7:00 PM.
