TEHRAN – Iran defeated Kyrgyzstan in straight sets (25-12, 25-18, 25-13) at their opening match of the Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup on Wednesday.

Team Melli are scheduled to face Tajikistan on Thursday.

“We played after a long time, and since it was their first game, they were stressed. I expected them to perform as they did in practice in this game as well, but the stress prevented that. Nevertheless, the players fought until the very end and delivered a good performance, which I am satisfied with,” Iran head coach Lee Do-hee said.

“We will play Tajikistan tomorrow. Like Kyrgyzstan, this team are not particularly powerful. The CAVA tournament is a good opportunity for us to prepare ourselves for participating in the Islamic Games,” she added.

The CAVA Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup is an international volleyball competition for senior women’s national teams that are members of the Central Asian Volleyball Association, the sport’s regional governing body for Central and South Asia.