By Gary Anderson

Five-time Paralympic champions Iran suffered a shock defeat to Brazil in the men's semi-final at the Sitting Volleyball World Championships ©Getty Images Brazil caused a shock at the World Sitting Volleyball World Championshipsin Elblag, Poland, as they defeated Iran in five sets to seal a place in the men's final, where they will face reigning Paralympic champions Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After overcoming a strong Russian side in another five-set marathon in yesterday's quarter-final, the Brazilians showed their will to win again by defeating the five-time Paralympic champions to book a spot in tomorrow's gold medal match.

The South American side raced into a two set lead before the Iranians, who had defeated Ukraine in the quarter-finals, came storming back to take the next two and send the match into a deciding set.

The Brazilians regained their nerve and composure however to take the set 15-12 and deny their more favoured opponents a place in the final.

They will come up against pre-tournament favourites Bosnia and Herzegovina who have dropped only one set on their way to Saturday's decider.

The European champions saw off Germany in their quarter-final to set up a meeting with Egypt who had knocked out the much-fancied Chinese in their quarter-final clash.

However, the Egyptians had no answer to the well-drilled Bosnians after they secured a straight sets win and will now be looking to add the world title to the Paralympic and Europeans crowns already in their possession.

China and the United States will meet to decide this year's world champions in a repeat of their London 2012 gold medal match ©Getty Images China and the United States will meet to decide this year's world champions in a repeat of their London 2012 gold medal match ©Getty Images



Meanwhile, on the women's side, the gold medal match will be a repeat of the final at London 2012 as China and the United States will lock horns once more.

After topping Pool B, Paralympic champions China faced a semi-final clash with Pool A runners-up Russia.

They began in dominant fashion taking the first two sets and looked to be heading for a comfortable victory.

But the Russians were not going away easily and regrouped to stage a superb comeback by taking the next two sets and forcing the match into a decider.

That was as good as it got for Russia as the Chinese stepped up a gear to take the final set 15-11 and secure a 3-2 win.

The other semi-final was an altogether more straight-forward affair as the United States came through comfortably by overcoming Pool B runners-up The Netherlands 3-0 to set up another clash with China.

Speaking after the match, the United States' Nichole Millage said: I'm excited before the final match, nervous but excited.

"I think we have a really big chance.

"We have a really good team."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related Stories
June 2014: 
Paralympic champions Bosnia and Herzegovina impress at World Sitting Volleyball Championships
May 2014: Full schedule released for World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Championships
September 2013: Bosnia dominate and Russia surprise at European ParaVolley Championships