Tehran- by Mehdi Zabouly. Please see HERE

And informant told Shirzanan, “ After the national table tennis team came back to Iran from US Open, the deputy manager resigned and there were no plans so far. She didn’t even have a replacement.” Shirzanan hopes the situation gets better so the table tennis team can get back to their routine schedules.

But Mahnaz Rouhhie is not in the team’s new arrangement. Mahnaz told Shirzanan, “ I am a member of shooring committee in Tabriz and I have a good record in national league.” She complained, “ while my records are better than other members of the team I was not invited. I am not disappointed. I am doing what I like best.”

Sahar Zamanian told Shirzanan, “ We practiced every day and we are ready for these competitions. We hope to win medals in Syrian Open. We are not sure who will be our opponent. We know that India, Syria, Jordan and Egypt are by sure attending.”

Shadi Farajpour, the winner of one gold and one bronze medals told Shirzanan: “26 teams were competing in Bulgaria and that made it very completive.” She continued, “Our previous head coach, Nick Gioga was great, we practiced very hard under his supervision.” The next coach, Rudriger Houffy seems very promising and he worked for a period of time with Nick Gioga.

Shirzanan: Robab Shahrian, the deputy of women’s sport in PEO, became a candidate for the executive branch of Iran’s National Olympic Committee. Shirzanan reports that Shahrian is not the only woman among the candidates; there are other names like Kalbaly, Aboulghasemy.

Shirzanan: Pourkashian ranks 31st after the Chess Mind Games in China; Pourkashian explains, “ The competitions were tough and most of the countries participating had great international records.” Pourkashian won a grand master from USA, France, Mexic and Indonesia.

Shirzanan: The qualification competitions (women under 19) is being held in Shahid Heiydarnia facilities. Shirzanan reports that 4 squash players from each province are competing. The main goal is to select the best players for the national team for Milo competitions in Malaysia.

The result was as follows:

%43.8 voted “Yes, to cheer Iran’s team”

%25.0 voted “Yes, I am a soccer fan.”

%0.0 voted “No, Women’ soccer is not interesting.”

%31.3 voted “ No, I don’t know where the games are playing.”

.... Shirzanan has heard that a big group of the spectators who were from Azad University were forced to go because the games had 3 extra grades for those students attending the games.

Although a hopeful start in Islamic women’s sports, this tournament brought with it a body of paradoxes; some weeks before, Farideh Shojaie, the deputy manager of Iran’s football federation in women’s division, has said that Iran’s National TV has promised a TV broadcast of these games; but neither the competitions were broadcasted nor the games opening ceremony.

Another ironic point of these games was that some of the invited countries dropped out of the games or rejected the invitation: Syria, Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon rejected the invitation in an objection to the games Islamic Athletic Outfits policy.

The first three days of this tournament has passed: The first day: Algerians won their first game against Azad University Medical School team 7-0. The Rah Ahan Team (Rail Road) defeated Balgostar Mazandaran team 9 to 0; the women’s youth team won the Nassaji Mazandran 4 to 1 and Azarbayejan team won Malavan Bandar Anzaly 2-0.

The second day: Iran’s national youth team won Azad University 6-3 and Rah Ahan team won Bandar Anzaly 2-1. The third day the republic of Azerbaijan and Bandar Anzali defeated their opponents. Shirzanan is looking forward to reporting the remaining matched to you.

..... Physical therapists believe that some exercises help to prevent ACL injuries. Due to importance of ACL injuries Shirzanan has provided a translation of a series of exercises recommended especially to female athletes.

This article was distributed by APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) an it is called “ Exercises To Help Prevent ACL Injuries.” Physical therapists recommend that female athletes perform these serried of exercises to improve strength, flexibility and coordination, as well as to counteract incorrect existing patterns of movement that may be damaging to their joints.

These exercises display a sample of an injury prevention program and it is not a substitute for a treatment program. If you got injured you need to visit a physical therapist. A link to the original article can be found in the Farsi translation of the article in Shirzanan.