The Iranian team had taken bronze in the championships 12 months ago, but a brave fightback saw them finish on top of the podium at the Taihu International Expo Center.

The team of Hossein Lotfi, Amir Mohammad Bakhshi, Erfan Nazemi, Sina Bahrami and Saeid Rajabi won a tense final against South Korea 71-68.

Korea had won the first three rounds as Shin Dong-Yun, Bae Jun-Seo, Park Woo-Hyeok, Kim Jee-Seok dominated, but Iran were too strong. 

Despite losing 69-53 to the Koreans in the semi-finals, Russia overcame China 2 69-31 to take bronze. 

The men’s Russian team was represented by Sarmat Tcakoev, Dmitriy Artyukhov, Dali Ishberdin Dali, Vladislav Yugay and Adrei Zemledeltsev.

Iran defeated China 1 66-53 to reach the final.

In the second battle for bronze, China 1 recorded a 121-47 victory against the United States.

The mixed team finals will be held tomorrow, when the championships conclude.