I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y FEBRUARY 4, 2020 SPORTS 11

Tehran derby among the Stramaccioni reveals Esteghlal departure’s reason

PLDC — Andrea Stramaccioni has spoken on his reasons world’s greatest: Calderon for leaving Iranian football club Esteghlal. The Italian coach, who previously managed Inter Milan and SPORTS — Former Udinese, quit as head coach deskPersepolis coach Gabri- of Esteghlal FC in October el Calderon believes that Tehran derby is over failed payments. among the greatest derbies in the world. “In terms of football, we The Argentine left Persepolis in January had an excellent performance. after two parties failed to reach an agreement In the first four weeks, we on financial issues. were in penultimate place in On Thursday, Persepolis will meet the table with just two points archrivals Esteghlal in Tehran’s Azadi Sta- but we won 10 successive dium in the match which was declared as matches and we scored the the most important derby in Asia. most goals,” Stramaccioni “I’ve experienced Tehran derby and said in an interview with I have to say it is one of the best derbies mondoudinese. in the world. I am very happy we defeated “Hundreds of Iranians Esteghlal in September and hope they win took to the streets of Tehran the match once again,” Calderon said in an after we left the team and the interview with IRNA. person who had not paid us our salary, was forced to leave “I left Persepolis but I follow the results the team. I am proud of my team and I have to confess it of the team and I wish them all the best,” was very hard to leave a team who was top of the league,” he added. he said. “Tehran derby is a special match and looks “There was some incidents off the field and I don’t like much different from the other matches. I to talk about them. It was more political incidents,” Stra- hope it will be an interesting match. In the maccioni concluded. all countries, derby is a special match with some simple rules to play,” Calderon stated. “As a coach who has played and coached for decades in several countries, I have to say , Indonesia gold-winners Tehran derby is one of the greatest derbies in the world. However, I don’t like compare it with of Fajr Cup’s first day the other matches because I think that each match has its own condition,” the Argentine said. MNA – The fifth edition of the International Fajr Cup “The Iranian people love football and I started on Sunday in Rasht where Iranian and Indonesian am so glad to experience the derby. Esteg- weightlifters managed to collect the gold medals. hlal are a strong team and it helps we see Iran’s Hafez Ghashghaei and Bulgaria’s Angel Rusev an interesting match. I like Persepolis beat were the sole two contenders in the 61kg category. Ghash- Esteghlal and extend their winning streak. many good players at the moment,” Calderon matters more is the good moments that we or Iran national football team. The Iranian ghaei, the 2019 World C’ships silver medalist, snatched We built a strong team at the start of the went on to say. shared with the kind people. I like to return to players have already proved that how talented the gold medal of the Fajr Cup with an overall of 280kg. season and Persepolis take advantage of so “I was in Tehran for six months and what Iran one day to continue my job in Persepolis they are,” Calderon concluded. He hoisted 120kg in snatch and 160kg in clean and jerk while Rusev, the 2018 European Youth Champion, lifted 110kg in snatch and 147kg in clean and jerk. Iran ease past Malaysia at SAT Futsal Jahanbakhsh wins Match of the Day The 2018 World Champion Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia did not have a hard time gaining the gold medals of the 67kg Championship Thailand goal of the month category. He finished on 310kg, with 138kg in the snatch and 172kg in clean and jerk - well clear of Indonesia’s Deni Deni on 285kg, with Turkey’s Bünyamin Sezer third on 266kg. Indonesian lifters claimed another gold, this time in 73kg by Triyatno. The 2012 Olympics silver-medalist made 136kg in snatch and 170kg in clean and jerk to finish on 306kg while Iraq’s Mohammed Qaddoori had a total of 292kg made up of 130kg and 162kg. 34 male lifters from 13 countries of Iran, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cameron, Indonesia, Bosnia, Iraq, Jordon, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Norway, and Turkey are participating in the event which is qualifications series for the 2020 Olympics. Lifters of 81 and 96 kg and those of 109 and +109 kg will compete on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

Iran third at Szent Istvan U16 Basketball Cup

SPORTS TEHRAN — Iran B Songkhla from Feb. 2 to 8. SPORTS TEHRAN — Bright- eight goals shortlisted. deskfutsal team defeated The tournament was supposed to be deskon & Hove Albion Jahanbakhsh becomes the first TASNIM — Iran finished in third place at the Szent Istvan Malaysia 5-0 at the SAT International played with six nations into two groups Albion player to win such an award. U16 Basketball Cup. Futsal Championship Hat Yai Thailand of three. Then, due to the Coronavirus has won Match of The Day’s goal of He is the third Iranian player to The competition was held in Székesfehérvár, Hungary 2020 on Monday. concern both Turkmenistan and Kuwait the month. score in history (also from January 30 to February 2. The Iranian team, who had defeated withdrew from the event, being replaced The Iranian winger scored an over- and Andranik Tey- Iran were in Group B along with Hungarian B, NBA Tajikistan 3-2 in the opening match, will by Myanmar and Thailand “B”. head kick in the 1-1 draw at home to mourian) and the first since Dejagah Academy and Stellazzurra Rome. play Thailand B on Wednesday. Finally, also Myanmar withdrew and Chelsea on New Year’s Day, which in April 2014. Group A consisted of Hungarian A, China, Bayern Mu- SAT International Futsal Championship the challenge was reorganized in a unique won the award. The winner was decided by a fans’ nich and Real Madrid. Thailand 2020 is being held in Hat Yai, group of five teams. His spectacular goal was one of poll. Iran prepare for the 2020 edition of FIBA U16 Asian Championship. A total of 16 teams will compete in Tehran from March 23 to April 2 at Azadi Sports Complex for the Asian title. Eamon Zayed sends message to Persepolis fans The competition is also a qualification for FIBA U17 SPORTS TEHRAN — Eamon Zayed, former strik- to beat Esteghlal 3-2 and obviously it was nice to score three Basketball World Cup, which is going to be held in Bulgaria. desker of Persepolis, has sent a message to goals. It’s the day that I’ll never forget and I feel it was like Four first teams of the Asian event will book their ticket Persepolis fans ahead of Tehran derby to remind them of yesterday. Thank you for never forgetting and continuing to the world event. the hat-trick that he recorded in 2012. to make me feel a part of Persepolis history,” Zayed said On 2 February 2012, The Irish-Libyan footballer on an Instagram video post. came on as a substitute in his first appearance, in the “Speaking of the derby that coming up on Thursday, Tehran derby with Persepolis being reduced to 10 which I’ll be definitely watching, they are all the best in Iranian athletes to men and 2–0 behind, he scored in the 82nd minute the derby, players, staff, and fans. Hopefully, Persepolis participate at Cup to make it 2–1 with a right-footed curling shot. Two can be successful and beat Esteghlal again” he continued. minutes later, he headed home an angled cross to level On 21 March 2012, Zayed scored a second hat-trick the game. In the 92nd minute of the match, Zayed put against Al-Shabab in AFC Champions League. This was IRNA — Following the World Indoor Championships’ can- Persepolis into a 3–2 lead in dramatic style to be the the first hat-trick a Persepolis player had scored in the AFC cellation, Iran will send athletes to Istanbul Athletic Cup. first non-Iranian player to net a hat-trick in the Tehran Champions League. World Athletics has decided to postpone the World derby. He was voted World Player of the Week after Persepolis won the game 6–1. Zayed scored another Championships in Nanjing, China, because of the rapid the Tehran derby by Goal.com. hat-trick against Rah Ahan F.C. on 6 May 2012. Persepolis spread of the new coronavirus. “I just want to send a short note to commemorate today. fans then began referring to Zayed as “Mr. hat-trick”. The championships were originally scheduled to take It was eight years ago on this day that we came back famously Eamon Zayed currently plays for Chattanooga Red Wolves place on March 13-15 but will be postponed for March 2021. in that Tehran derby from two goals down with only 10 men in the USL League One. Istanbul Athletic Cup will be held from February 16 to 20 in Istanbul, Turkey. Iran is going to send 11 athletes to the event. AFC Futsal Championship Turkmenistan 2020 postponed SPORTS TEHRAN — The Asian of all participating teams and stakeholders. Four candidates shortlisted deskFootball confederation The AFC will continue to monitor the impact (AFC) has announced that the 2020 Asian of the virus and new competition dates will for Paykan job Futsal Championship that was scheduled be announced when the situation stabilizes.” for Turkmenistan between February 26 and The 2020 AFC Futsal Championship March 8 has been postponed, due to the will be the 16th edition of the AFC Futsal TASNIM — Four candidates have been shortlisted to take coronavirus outbreak in the country. Championship, the biennial international charge of Paykan football team. The following statement released by AFC futsal championship organized by the Asian The Tehran-based football team are just three points and was sent in a letter to participating countries Football Confederation (AFC) for the men’s above the relegation zone in Iran Professional League. in the 2020 AFC Futsal Championship finals: national teams of Asia. Hossein Faraki stepped down from his role following “Following consultation with all relevant The “novel coronavirus” (nCoV) is a new a 3-1 defeat to Shahin Bushehr on Friday. stakeholders, the Asian Football Confeder- virus that was first discovered in Wuhan Former Zob Ahan coach Alireza Mansourian is among ation (AFC) has taken the decision to post- province in China on Dec. 31. It can cause the candidates to replace Faraki. pone the AFC Futsal Championship which respiratory failure and be spread from Ex-Paykan coach Abdollah Veisi is also a potential was scheduled for Turkmenistan between person to person. As of Friday, there were candidate. February 26 and March 8, 2020. more than 9,800 confirmed cases, nearly Faraz Kamalvand, who parted company with Pars Jonoubi This move was taken because of concerns all in China, with 106 cases spread across in December, has been shortlisted for the job. about the current Coronavirus situation and 19 other countries, including in Europe and Former Paykan striker Ali Asghar Modir Roosta also is in order to ensure the safety and well-being North America. a candidate to take charge of the team.