The 22nd edition of the AVC Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship has been underway since Saturday with the first matches of the pool stage of the tournament hosted by the city of Urmia, known as Iran’s volleyball capital.
The competition is taking place at two venues, Alghadir and Shahid Ahandoust, until 26 August, when the 2023 Asian champions will emerge and the full final standings will be known.
Full crowds turned out to watch home favourites Iran in action (Photo credits: AVC)
Following the withdrawal of Mongolia, 17 teams are competing in Urmia, split into six round-robin pools of three, besides Pool D which features only two teams, for the first stage of the tournament. Hong Kong, Iran and Iraq comprise Pool A, Japan, Thailand and Uzbekistan are in Pool B, China, Indonesia and Kazakhstan are in Pool C, Bahrain and Chinese Taipei are in Pool D, Afghanistan, India and Qatar will compete in Pool E, and Bangladesh, Korea and Pakistan in Pool F. The top 12 teams will continue in the playoff rounds leading up to the medal matches, while the rest will play on for the distribution of the places from 13th to 17th.
Home favourites Iran got off to a great start in Pool A, delighting fans by defeating Hong Kong, China 3-0 on Sunday. It was a disappointing result for Hong Kong, China, after the team also lost its opening Pool A match against Iraq the previous day, 3-2.
In Pool B, Japan overcame Thailand 3-0 and Uzbekistan 3-0 to make it two straight wins to kick off their tournament campaign. Pool C saw a match between China and Indonesia go the distance, with China eventually coming out on top with a 3-2 victory. In day two’s Pool C match, Indonesia managed a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan.
Chinese Taipei got its campaign underway in style in Pool D with a 3-0 win over Mongolia, before overcoming Bahrain in a tight 3-2 match.
Meanwhile, Qatar dominated Pool E over the two days of competition, defeating India 3-0 on the opening day and Afghanistan 3-0 on day two. In Pool F, both Korea and Pakistan beat Bangladesh 3-0.
Qatar secured their place in the Final 12 with wins over India and Afghanistan (Photo credits: AVC)
Japan, Qatar, Iran, Chinese Taipei and Pakistan also secured their places in the tournament’s Final 12 with their victories. Bahrain are also through despite their loss. Five more games are scheduled for Monday to mark the end of the preliminary phase.
Hosts Iran are the defending champions of the previous two editions in 2019 and 2021. They have triumphed four times. Korea have also celebrated as champions four times, while 2021 runners-up Japan are the most decorated team in the history of the competition with nine continental titles. China, bronze medallists two years ago, have won the Asian Championship three times, while Australia did it once, back in 2007.
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