Betim, Brazil, October 31, 2015 - After being two sets down against Iran’s Paykan Tehran, UPCN San Juan from Argentina achieved a sensational comeback and repeated the bronze medal earned in 2014, this time 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 16-14).
Bulgarian duo of Nikolay Uchikov and Todor Aleksiev pushed UPCN forward with 22 points apiece, but it was captain Javier Filardi the hero of the day as he smashed the final point of a tremendous challenge. Meanwhile, Iranian Amir Ghafour topped the charts with 24 kills.
Paykan went with the same formula they used a couple of days ago to bring down UPCN - effective serves, with Ghaemi at the helm, and solid attacks to sustain the leads created from the service line. UPCN were able to stay closer in the second set, but a key block by Ghafour strengthened Paykan at the very end (23-20). It wasn’t long until the 2-0 lead for the Iranians.
UPCN did better on the third, advancing from a slight 8-7 to 14-11 after a lucky ace by Ramos. Aleksiev took care of the rest and UPCN reduced the gap to 2-1, but the South American champions failed to extend their pace and the fourth set was a tight one. It wasn’t until the final track that a serve by Guzmán allowed Ramos to smash the 23-22, and soon after a wide ball form Paykan opened the way for the tie-breaker.
The first fifth set of the competition kept the close play as the teams exchanged sides with an 8-7 score for Paykan. The point-by-point basis remained until UPCN moved to 13-12 with a Guzmán block, and two spikes from Uchikov made the team stay ahead. On their first counterattack shot, Filardi sealed the bronze medal.