Iranian libero Farhad Zarif says that victory over China has boosted the players� confidence ahead of the Olympic Qualifying Volleyball Tournament.


The competition will be held in Tokyo, Japan from May 28 to June 5.

Iran suffered two defeats against France but defeated China in friendly.

Raul Lozano�s men have been scheduled to meet Poland on Wednesday in a warm-up match.

�The victory over China helped us to gain our confidence. We suffered a couple of defeats in the World Cup and our spirits were damaged,� Zarif said.

�We are going to make our dreams true after 52 years. We are training hard in Japan and I think the friendly matches will help us to increase our knowledge about the rivals,� he added.

The men�s tournament will see Japan welcome the top three ranked teams in Asia according to the FIVB men�s world ranking � Australia, China and Iran.

Joining them will be France and Poland, who claimed second and third place at the European Olympic Qualification Tournament in 2015, Venezuela, who ranked second at the South American Olympic Qualification Tournament and Canada who finished as runner-up at the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament.

The top ranked Asian team and the top three ranked teams from each tournament will all claim a ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. If an Asian team is ranked among the top three, then the next ranked team will qualify.

By Tehran Times