Iran advanced to the next round of the Asian Under-23 Women's Volleyball Championship on Sunday.

Team Iran defeated Kazakhstan 3-2 (25–20, 18–25, 25–19, 14–25, 15–13) at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig, the Philippines.

The Iranian team had defeated the Philippines 3-1 in its first game in Pool A.

“I think our players took them for granted. We didn’t play good against Kazakhstan. I believe that we showed a better performance against the Philippines,” Iran coach Abbas Barghi said in the post match news conference.

Iran will play Chinese Taipei and Japan on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

It’s the inaugural edition of the tournament and serves as the Asian qualifiers for the 2015 FIVB Women's U23 Volleyball World Championship which will be held in Ankara, Turkey with the top two teams qualifying for the world championship.

MH