Iran will be at full strength for Asian Qualifiers

TEHRAN (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Iran will not be holding anything back when they plunge into action at the Asian Qualifiers this month.

All the players who saw action for Team Melli at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 have returned to the national pool for the Asian Qualifiers, led by Mohammad Jamshidi and Hamed Haddadi, who were both chosen to be among the All-Star Team in Beirut.

اين چهارمين بار بود كه تونستم اين عنوان رو براي بسكتبال كشورم بدست بيارم و حسم قابل توصيف نيست. تنها چيزي كه الان تو ذهنم مياد اينه كه تيم خيلي زحمت كشيد. از همه بچه ها تشكر مي كنم كه با تمام وجود جنگيدن. از همتون ممنونم كه به من اعتماد و تحملم كردين. تورنمنت سختي بود و من نتونستم با آمادگي كامل كنارتون باشم اما شما جنگيدين و من رو باور كردين. همين اعتماد و باور شما باعث شد كه من بتونم مبارزه كنم و تو زمين بمونم. خيلي دوست داشتم اين تورنمنت با قهرماني برامون تموم شه اما همه ديدن كه استراليا با اينكه چند بازيكن اصليش رو نداشت بازهم خيلي خوب بود و برنده شد. به نظرم بايد رقابت با اين تيم رو به فال نيك بگيريم چون حضور استراليا تو آسيا باعث رشد خودمون ميشه. هرچي بيشتر با اين تيم بازي كنيم بهتر و بهتر مي شيم و مطمئنم كه دوباره به اونجايي كه واسه ماست مي رسيم...ممنونم از همتون#ايران 🇮🇷🇮🇷

A post shared by @hamedhaddadi on Aug 21, 2017 at 4:49am PDT

Iran 22-man national pool for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers
Ali Allahverdi	Rouzbeh Arghavan	Farid Aslani	Amirhossein Azari
Vahid Dalirzahan	Mohammad Reza	Saleh Foroutannik	Hamed Haddadi
Mohammad Hassanzadeh	Mohammad Jamshidi	Arsalan Kazemi	Amirhossein Khandanpoor
Sajjad Mashayekhi	Meisam Mirzaei	Navide Niktash	Navid Rezaeifar
Keyvan Riaei	Oshin Sahakian	Amir Sedighi	Mohammad Torabi
Behnam Yakhchali	Arman Zangeneh

Iran have a good mix of youth and veterans on this roster. They have nine players who are 23 years or younger, including rising stars Behnam Yakhchali, Sajjad Masjayekhi and Vahid Dalirzahan. Seasoned international campaigners like Rouzbeh Arghavan, Oshin Sahakian and Arsalan Kazemi are also among the players in the pool, and they are sure to use their experience in tempering the talents of their younger teammates.

Haddadi, Kazemi, Jamshidi and Yakhchali are projected to be this squad's leaders, especially since they were among the team's most productive players at the Asia Cup. Not surprisingly, Iran are going to be heavy favorites in every match they enter this month, and they are expected to go 2-0.

Iran are in Group D with Iraq, Kazakhstan and Qatar. They play Iraq on 24 November at the Prince Hamza Arena before hosting Qatar at the Azady Gym on 27 November.

FIBA