IRAN will be bringing back longtime national team staple Hamed Haddadi for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 7-foot-2 center missed the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Amman last June due to a waist injury, but has now been cleared to play in his second Olympic Games.
He is only one of the last three players who suited up in Beijing 2008, together with Samad Nikkah Bahrami and Saeid Davarpanah, as Team Melli finished 11th place out of 12.
Familiar faces
National team staples Mohammad Jamshidi, Arsalan Kazemi, and Behnam Yakhchali are also back in the fold for coach Mehran Shahintab, who is also trotting 20-year-old guard Sina Vahedi.
Completing the 12-man roster are Mohammad Hassanzadeh (Naft Abadan), Navid Rezaeifar (Shahrdary Gorgan), Aron Geramipour (San Lorenzo de Almagro - Argentina), Pooyan Jalalpour (SKN St. Pölten Basketball - Austria), and Mike Rostampour (BC Prievidza - Slovakia).
Iran is on a tough Group A where it faces reigning Olympic gold medalists United States, 2019 Fiba World Cup bronze medalist France, and Victoria OQT winner Czech Republic.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
