Iran completed an undefeated campaign to capture the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Championship title, defeating Kazakhstan 3-1 in a gripping gold medal match at the NSC Indoor Hall on Friday. After taking the opening set 25-18, Iran saw their opponents level the match by winning the second frame 25-19, but responded with dominant 25-15 and 25-21 victories to secure the regional crown and finish the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record.

The champions were spearheaded by team captain Fatemeh Khalili Chermahini, who contributed 15 points in the final and earned Most Valuable Player honours. Elaheh Poorsaleh Shahdehsari added 14 points and was recognised as Best Opposite Spiker, whilst Kazakhstan was paced by a match-high 17 points from Tatyana Yatskiv and 14 from Kristina Belova, who shared Best Outside Spiker honours with Chermahini.

Earlier in the day, India secured the bronze medal with a hard-fought 25-22, 25-23, 15-25, 25-22 victory over host nation Nepal in a tense contest lasting nearly two hours. Despite Nepal holding a 92-90 advantage in total points scored and being led by an 18-point performance from Mina, India claimed the crucial points across three closely contested sets, guided by a pivotal 15-point haul from Anagha Radhakrishnan.

The eight-nation tournament concluded with Iran taking gold, Kazakhstan claiming silver, and India securing bronze, whilst host nation Nepal finished fourth despite Regmi Sumitra finishing as the overall tournament top scorer with 69 points. Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Bangladesh rounded out the final standings from fifth to eighth place respectively, capping a magnificent week-long showcase of women’s volleyball across Central and South Asia.