Mirzaali and Raoufi kept the host country on top in Babolsar

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Mirzaali and Raoufi stepped on the podium for the second consecutive week (Photocredit: FIVB)

Beach volleyball teams from Iran are certainly capitalizing from home-field advantage as the country has won its second gold medal in the World Tour in Iranian soil in as many weeks with 29-year-old Abolhamed Mirzaali and 40-year-old Rahman Raoufi topping the podium of the men-only one-star event in Babolsar.

The duo, which had won the silver medal last week in Bandar Torkaman, gave another step forward and claimed gold in Babolsar with a two-set (21-19, 21-19) victory over Kazakhstan’s  veterans Alexandr Dyachenko and Alexey Sidorenko in the final. It was the first podium appearance for a men’s team from Kazakhstan in the World Tour.

The home country also collected the bronze medal of the event after Alireza Aghajani’s and Abbas Pourasgari’s straight-set (21-18, 21-16) triumph over Slovenia’s Gasper Plahutnik and Danijel Pokersnik in the third-place match.

The World Tour will remain in Iran for yet another week with the Caspian Sea Series concluding in Bandar Anzali from October 16-19.