TEHRAN - Aytak Salamat scored a massive 26 points on Tuesday afternoon to help Iran complete a 3-1 match (26-24, 26-24, 19-25, 25-19) against Hong Kong in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women.

Iran’s victory at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum earned them right to play for their best possible finish at fifth place.

Iran coach Padideh Bolourizadeh reflected upon the team’s performance, while according much regard to their opponents

“Most of the points that we lost were due to our own mistakes. In the previous match (against Australia) nearly the same thing happened. In very critical moments, we lost our serve, or we decided not to follow the ball.

“This match was a very good opportunity for us because their style of play is really close to the East Asian level. We really appreciate this opportunity to play against a team like Hong Kong. They were very fast and it was not easy for us to detect the ball early on,” she said.

Iran will aim to replicate their 5th place finish in the Surabaya edition in 2023 as they face India in Wednesday.