In an all-Asian encounter, Uzbekistan proved too strong for the Islamic Republic of Iran in their opening match of the President's Cup. For the Uzbek team, who are playing in their second World Championship after participating in 1997, this is a historic result as they had never won a match at this level before. 

PRESIDENT'S CUP GROUP I
Islamic Republic of Iran vs Uzbekistan 32:37 (18:20)

Twenty-four years ago, Uzbekistan drew level with Canada, losing four other group matches and finishing 21st. And at Spain 2021, they were defeated in all three matches in the preliminary round, against the Netherlands, Sweden and Puerto Rico.

However, Iran, who are debutants at the World Championship, were also determined to claim their maiden win, and they were clearly the better side in the opening minutes. As goalkeeper Fatemeh Khalili made several saves, her teammates eased past Uzbek defence, so Ezzatollah Razmgar's team took an 8:3 lead.

However, Uzbekistan turned the tide. They started to play more aggressively in defence, which allowed them to score from fast breaks. Dilbarhon Bahromova had a big impact in attack, finishing the first half with eight goals.

Uzbekistan used a 5:0 run to close the gap to 11:12, and although Hanieh Lak, who replaced Khalili in Iran's goal, entered the game well to make a few saves, the Uzbeks gained momentum and led by two goals after a high-scoring first half. 

"We are very happy with our first win at this level. The girls showed character, and when we changed the defence to a more active system, we improved a lot," Uzbekistan's head coach Zafar Azimov said. 

After the re-start, Uzbekistan continued where they left off, increasing their advantage to 25:20 as Sevara Razakbergenova scored one goal after another. And although Iran continued to fight hard, they were unable to turn things around.

While Bahromova netted nine times in this match, her teammate Madina Khudoykulova had a big impact after the break and increase her tally to 11 goals. So these two backs combined for more than half of Uzbekistan's goals and secured a long-awaited win for their team.  

For Iran, hummel Player of the Match Elnaz Ghasemi scored nine goals from 10 attempts, but although she showed a good performance, her team suffered their fourth straight defeat. 

hummel Player of the Match: Elnaz Ghasemi, Iran