The 'king' of this Para Sport is Iran. Interest began decades ago, helped by the fact that you don't need much equipment to play sitting volleyball. The Iranians turned their attention to qualifying for the Seoul Paralympics in 1988, and since then the eyes of the nation have been on the athletes waiting for a gold medal at every Paralympic Games. 

Hadi Rezaei's team has won with seven gold and two silver medals in their nine Paralympic appearances. The Asian team will be strong favourite when it makes its debut at the Paris Arena on 30 August. Over the years, the Iranian team has updated its techniques and incorporated advanced technology, without forgetting the 200 days of training a year that are an essential key to victory. 

The Iranian team includes the player who holds the Guinness World Record for being the tallest Paralympic athlete and currently the second tallest man in the world. Standing at a staggering 2.46 centimetres, 37-year-old Morteza Mehrzad is one of the team's most important assets. 

Thanks to his participation in a TV programme in 2009, he was spotted by the volleyball coaches and has been training with them since 2011, making his debut at Rio 2016 and helping his team win gold, a feat they repeated at Tokyo 2020. Mehrzad's height played a big part in Iran's success, as the other teams had to plan and organise differently. Mehrzad's maximum block is 2.30 cm, so his opponents have to multiply their reinforcements. 

In the women's competition, China has reached the final in every edition of the Paralympic Games, with three gold and two silver medals after playing the USA in the last four finals (the first was against the Netherlands). Having lost to them in the last two finals, the Asians will take on the USA in their opening match on 30 August, one day after the start of the competition.

The Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) is the only official representative of the International Paralympic Committee in Asia. It aims to make Asia one of the leading regions of the Paralympic Movement, enabling athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to inspire and excite the world.