Lee Do-hee leads Iran women's volleyball team to consecutive Central Asian titles

Korean coach Lee Do-hee led Iran's national women's volleyball team to back-to-back Central Asian titles, further cementing her growing legacy in the country.

Iran defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-15, 25-21) in the final of the third Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) Women's Nations League in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Friday. Having also won the title last year, Iran successfully defended its crown.

Iran topped Group B with three wins after sweeping Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan all by 3-0 in the preliminary round. The team then advanced to the final with a 3-0 victory over host Nepal in the semifinals on Thursday before defeating Kazakhstan again to complete an undefeated run to the championship.

Iran earned 21.19 ranking points from the tournament, moving up five places in the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) world rankings from No. 46 to No. 41 with 96.43 points. This is right below Korea, ranked at No.40 with 99.53 points.

Lee is one of Korea's legendary setters. She played for Honam Petrochemical, now known as GS Caltex Seoul Kixx, and the national team through 2000. After retiring, she worked as a commentator before serving as an assistant coach with Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders and the Kixx, and later became head coach of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate. In the 2019-20 season, she guided the Hillstate to first place in the regular season before the campaign was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2024, Lee accepted an offer from the FIVB to coach Iran's age-group national teams. Since June last year, she has also been in charge of the senior national team.

Under her leadership, Iran captured its first-ever international tournament title last year, ending a 62-year wait. She then led Foolad Sirjan VC to the CAVA Club Championship title and guided the team to another championship at the Asian Youth Games Under-18 tournament in Bahrain, further enhancing her coaching reputation.

Her journey, however, was not without challenges. When military strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel began in March, Lee narrowly managed to leave the country with assistance from Korea's Foreign Ministry and embassy officials. Even after returning to Korea, she remained in contact with her players before traveling to Bangkok to lead Iranian club side Mehregan Noor in the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Champions League. Although the players managed to participate in the tournament, a lack of training left the team eliminated in the opening round.

Lee did not return home after the tournament. Instead, she stayed on to lead the Iranian national team at the CAVA Women's Nations League.

Iran's players also faced difficulties traveling to Thailand for training before competing in the tournament. Despite the obstacles, Iran defeated Kazakhstan, ranked at No.36 in the world and higher than Iran, twice en route to the title.

Park Ki-won, head coach of Thailand's men's national team, provided support to Lee, while former Honam Petrochemical player Chung Sun-hye, who is based in Australia, joined the coaching staff.

"I am extremely happy that we won the Central Asian championship," Lee said. "I am especially pleased that we were able to win the title by beating Kazakhstan twice."

Lee and Iran will next compete in the AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup, which begins on June 6 in the Philippines. Iran has been drawn into Group B alongside Vietnam, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Indonesia.

If Iran advances to the knockout stage by finishing in the top two of the group, it could face Korea, coached by Cha Sang-hyun.

"We are heading to the Philippines for the AVC Cup," Lee said. "We plan to continue our training camp there and do everything we can to achieve a strong result in the tournament. We will do our utmost to help our players reach the semifinals."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM HYO-KYOUNG [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]