Bangkok, Thailand, May 30, 2022 – Perennial champions Japan will return to defend their crown when the 14th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship will be held between June 6 and 13, 2022 at Nakhon Pathom Sports Centre Gymnasium in Nakhon Pathom, an approximate distance of 56km from capital city Bangkok.
The top-flight championship serves as the Asian qualification tournament for the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship, with 11 teams in total vying for top honour and four berths up for grabs for the biennial world meet as AVC representatives.
Earlier, this tournament was due to be hosted by Uzbekistan, but due to some unforeseen reasons, Nakhon Pathom has replaced Tashkent as the host city of the eight-day championship, also adjusted to Asian Women’s U18 Championship as approved by the AVC Board of Administration in line with the FIVB’s decision in March 2022 to change the age category of the tournament by moving it from U18 to U19 in order to equate it with the Boys’ U19 World Championship.
The 2020 edition was also due to take place in Nakhon Pathom, but had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 11 participating teams comprise hosts Thailand, Korea, Iran, Australia and Uzbekistan in Pool A and Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, India and Philippines in Pool B.
According to the unveiled competition schedule, all participating teams have been split into Pool A and Pool B. Teams will compete in pool round-robin preliminaries, with top two teams in each pool advancing to the cross semifinals. Teams finishing 3rd and 4th in each pool will next strut their stuff in the classification round for 5th–8th places, while those finishing 5th and 6th in each pool will fight for 9th, 10th and 11th places.
The championship had already been held for 12 times, but only two countries have captured the titles in this age-group championship. Japan emerged as the strongest team to clinch eight titles including seven in succession, while China had won the remaining four editions.
To ensure that all the relevant preparation tasks are on the right track and host city Nakhon Pathom is ready for the eight-day meet, the press conference on the staging of the 14th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship was held on Monday at Golden Tulip Sovereign Hotel Bangkok, with Mr Somporn Chaibangyang, President of Thailand Volleyball Association, AVC Executive Director Mr Shanrit Wongprasert, himself AVC Honorary Life Vice President, and Teniente Coronel Dr Sinthop Kaewpichit, President of Nakhon Pathom Sports Association, jointly presiding.
Somporn
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet, I’m convinced that with the competition standard and the stricter preventive measures, the championship in Nakhon Pathom will be a great success without the widespread outbreak of COVID-19. Both local and international participants will be immensely impressed, while hosting the championship will also showcase Thailand’s potential as a can-do host country,” Mr Somporn was quoted as saying during the Monday’s meeting.
Sinthop
Teniente Coronel Dr Sinthop admitted that Nakhon Pathom has been absent from hosting international sports activities for a long time due to grave concerns over the global impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a good opportunity for Nakhon Pathom in our bidding effort of hosting the championship. I’m upbeat that the championship will be a success without the spreading of the COVID-19. Health safety guarantee is our top priority for all participants. They will be arriving safely in Nakhon Pathom, have a safe stay during the competition before departing safe and sound. Certainly, the health safety guarantee will play vital part in creating good image of Thailand and trust and confidence to our country apart from recognising that Nakhon Pathom remains the high quality competition site that ensures COVID-19 safety with strong potential to effectively host major sports competitions in the near future.”
Shanrit
During the competition days, live streaming can be watched through YouTube and TVA Channel.
Japan, China, Thailand and Korea finished top four in the 2018 Asian Women’s U18 Championship (at that time U17) to be eligible for the 2019 FIVB Girls’ U19 World Championship in Egypt (at that time U18), with China finishing 4th, Japan 5th, Korea 13th and Thailand 15th.
Since the 2020 Asian Women’s U18 was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic, the afore-mentioned four teams (Japan, China, Thailand and Korea) received the AVC’s green light to represent Asia in the 2021 FIVB Girls’ U19 World Championship in Durango City in Mexico.
However, Japan, China and Korea withdrew from the world meet due to the outbreak of COVID-19, leaving Thailand the only Asian side to compete in the 2021 World Championship in Mexico, where the Thai girls returned with 11th position.
Related links of AVC
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AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
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