TEHRAN – Iran’s women’s basketball team power forward Delaram Vakili emphasizes that their primary goal is to secure promotion to the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Division A.

Iran have been drawn into Pool B alongside Mongolia, Cook Islands, and Thailand. Pool A features Chinese Taipei, Tahiti, Kazakhstan, and India.

The team will kick off their campaign with a match against the Cook Islands on Sunday. Vakili notes that the two-week training break, due to the Iran-Israel conflict, has impacted the team’s preparation.

“We were at the peak of our performance when we had a 15-day break because of the war conditions. We had planned to travel to Russia and Lebanon, but unfortunately, those camps were canceled. I believe we experienced a slight physical and mental setback due to these circumstances. Nevertheless, all players continued individual training, although training at Azadi Stadium under coach supervision is quite different,” Vakili explained.

“To compensate for missing two camps in Russia and Lebanon, we left early for China to continue our preparations. We will play preparatory games there to better ready ourselves for the competition. I believe we will gradually return to our optimal form and achieve full readiness during this 10-day training camp in China,” she added.

When asked about their knowledge of the opponents at this stage of the tournament, Vakili responded: “We have a good understanding of our opponents, and as we get closer to the games, our technical staff will analyze them further. We will definitely gain more insights as the matches approach.”

“Our main rival in this campaign is Chinese Taipei, and of course, teams like Thailand, Cook Islands, and Mongolia are also strong. However, with thorough analysis, we are confident we can face them effectively,” Vakili stated.

“Our main goal is to advance to Division A, and that’s all we are thinking about. Two years ago, we nearly secured a spot in Division A, but missed out. This time, we want to finish the job. Last year, we lost to Indonesia in the final on a penalty, and though this year’s opponents are tougher, we have had solid training and are doing our best to earn promotion,” Vakili concluded.