TEHRAN - Bahman Salemi Injehboroun, the Iran beach volleyball national team player, is satisfied with the team's performance at the 2021 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships.

Iran became runners-up of the competition held in Thailand's Phuket.

Iran's Abolhassan Khakizadeh/Bahman Salemi lost to Australia 2-0 in the final match of the tournament.

“The level of the competition was so high compared to the previous editions of the tournament,” Salemi said in his interview with Tehran Times.

“Most of the teams had improved and become stronger than before. Australia were the great team. Christopher McHugh is an experienced player that I have met him in many tournaments, and in this tournament, he was better than ever,” he said.

Salemi started playing in 2010 and has since collected several medals in AVC and FIVB tournaments, including an Asian Championship title in 2017.

“Before the 2021 Asian Beach Volleyball Championships, the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) had considered Iran the third chance to win the tournament. But we went beyond expectations and had a great run during the competitions,” Salemi stated.

“My teammate, Abolhassan Khakizadeh, played very well, even though it was his first year in the national team and the first major tournament he played in. He is a young and talented player who has a bright future ahead.

“We only had 12 days to practice together before the Asian championships. However, with the efforts of the national team coaches, Maziar Houshamnd and Arash Ramsari, we could handle the difficult challenge.

“One of the most difficult games for us was the game against the Philippines 1. They have improved a lot during the recent years and were a tough team to defeat. It proves that beach volleyball is popular in many countries across Asia and progresses rapidly,” said the Iran national team player.

“Thailand were a great hosts for the tournament, and everything was perfect in terms of facilities. I hope that we can have the same facilities and infrastructure in Iran for beach volleyball. In my hometown city, Gonbad-e Kavus, people are passionate about volleyball and beach volleyball, but there is no standard training camp for us. My request to the officials is to pay more attention to the development of beach volleyball in Iran so that we will be able to achieve many honors in international competitions," concluded the 32-year-old star.