Iranian Men, American Women Top Latest World Sitting Volleyball Ranks

The Paralympic champions from Iran (men) and the USA (women) sit atop the latest World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Rankings.

Released at the end of September, at the conclusion of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the winning teams each earned a whopping 2000 points for their Paralympic victories – which is a 33% bump from even a World Championship title.

The Paralympic Games make up approximately 35% of the points available to teams – which mean the latest World Rankings don’t precisely drive the World Rankings. World Championships, Intercontinental Championships, the Paralympic Qualifier, and Zonal Championships make up almost two-thirds of each team’s point total.

That means that behind Iran, and their 8’1″ star Morteza Mehrzadselakjani, the Brazilian men, who finished a disappointing 2nd in their group to draw Iran in the semi-finals, still are 2nd in the overall rankings on the backs of a second-place finish at the World ParaVolley Intercontinental in March. The Boznia & Herzogovina men, meanwhile, took silver in Rio, but didn’t participate in the International, which drops them to 4th in the World Rankings.

The women’s rankings go more predictably to plan – the three medalists from Rio are the top three ranked teams in the world, in order, with the United States 1st, China 2nd, and Brazil 3rd. China has been the dominant world #1 for its 12 year history in the Paralympics, but the Americans were able to dip past them thanks to their gold medal.

Top 10Rankings, as of September 28th:

• Full women’s rankings

Tournaments of relevance:

• 2016 Paralympic Games
• 2016 Intercontinental
• 2016 Intercontinental PG Qualifying event
• 2014 World Championships
• Two Zonal Championships (2013/2015)