Iranian brothers Noshad and Nima Alamian will compete in the same Olympic Games. It’s the first time in the table tennis events two brothers will compete at the same time.

Noshad Alamian defeated Hong Kong’s Jiang Tianyi (8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6, 11-4) on Saturday and booked a place in the Olympics.

Noshad Alamiyan is presently named at no.132 on the Men’s World Rankings, Jiang Tianyi is at no.53; however it needs to be taken into account that Jiang Tianyi has been suffering from a leg injury.

“Every match is very important to me in this tournament, I’m so happy that I have won this match”, Noshad Alamian told ITTF. “Jiang Tianyi’s style of play is so much different to that of my previous opponent Sharath Kamal Achanta, who I lost against this morning.”

“The East Asians play in a much faster tempo and with stronger strokes but I think Jiang Tianyi has some injuries and cannot move that well so he was below his best.”

“To me, the Olympics is just the same as other tournaments”, said Noshad Alamian. “I always try to do my best and do what I can do in any championships.”