TEHRAN - Iran women’s national volleyball team middle blocker Soudabeh Bagherpour said the team put on a strong performance against the continent’s top sides at the Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship.

Iran lost to Japan 3-0 (25–21, 25–16, 26–24) on Sunday at the 2026 AVC Women Asian Continental Championship.

Following Iran’s fourth-place finish in Tianjin, Bagherpour reflected on the team’s campaign, saying: “Today, we faced a team that had competed in the Volleyball Nations League about a month ago. Based on our analysis, we gave everything we had to beat Japan, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.”

 “We fought hard in the third set, but Japan performed better. Their excellent defense and ability to keep the ball in play put us under pressure, and they eventually won the match,” Bagherpour added.