Iran opened the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) win over Australia at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Saturday.

Iran captain Mir Saeid Marouflakrani worked his magic by setting up Amir Ghafour and his other hitters to dominate their rivals in the straight-set clash. Marouf dished out 27 excellent sets that abled Ghafour to tally 19 markers. Adel Gholami and Mojtaba Mirzajanpour contributed 10 points each to the Iranian victory, while Samuel Walker top scored for Australia with eight points.

Australia did not have their star Thomas Edgar in the first set but were able get the first break as they scored the first two points. Iran scored the next two points and rallied to lead at the first technical timeout 8-6. Australia tried to keep up but still trailed 16-15. Marouf excellently engineered his hitters to find the open spot that allowed them to pull away and secure the opening set 25-19.