Qeshm, Iran, January 5, 2020 - The opening event on the 2020 portion of the 2019-2020 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour schedule begins here Tuesday on this Iranian island which hosts the inaugural Dargahan Cup Qeshm Island, a men's-only event.
The second of three Iranian events on the 2019-2020 FIVB World Tour calendar, Dargahan Cup qualifying will be played Tuesday followed by the main draw pool play Wednesday to set the field for the opening elimination rounds Thursday.
The semifinals and medal matches will be contested Friday. Four pairs in the Dargahan Cup, including three teams from Iran, have captured FIVB World Tour medals.
Iranian medal winning teams are Abolhamed Mirzaali/Rahman Raoufi (a gold, three silvers and two bronzes), Bahman Salemi/Arash Vakili (a gold, silver and bronze) and Alireza Aghajani/Javad Firouzpourbandpei (one silver). Japan’s Hitoshi Murakami/Takashi Tsuchiya have collected a FIVB World Tour bronze medal.
Abolhamed Mirzaali (left) and Rahman Raoufi after winning the 2018 Babolsar Open.
Iran’s only two FIVB World Tour gold medals were netted in October 2018 on back-to-back weekends at events on home sand. Salemi and Vakili secured the first title at Bandar Torkaman on October 5 with Mirzaali and Raoufi topping the podium seven days later in Babolsar.
The 2019 portion of the 2019-2020 World Tour schedule also began in Iran when Bandar Torkaman hosted an event at the start of October where Thailand's Nuttanon Inkiew/Sedtawat Padsawud captured the gold medal at the men's-only tournament.
The third Iranian event is also an inaugural men's only tournament and will be held March 3-7 in Bandar Abbas, which is a two-hour ferry ride north of Qeshm on the southern coast of mainland Iran.