Tehran, Iran, September 11, 2019 – All is set for the 20th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship here between September 13 and 21, as 16 teams will strut their stuff in this top-flight competition to vie for the top honour, with top 8 teams, except Tokyo 2020 hosts Japan, eligible for the AVC Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament in Jiangmen, China from January 7 to 12.
The participating teams in the nine-day event comprise hosts Iran, Australia, Qatar and Sri Lanka in Pool A, defending and consecutive two-time champions Japan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Hong Kong China in Pool B, Kazakhstan, China, Oman and India in Pool C and Korea, Indonesia, Kuwait and Pakistan in Pool D.
The pool round-robin preliminaries will be held simultaneously on Friday, September 13 at the 12,000-seater Azadi Sports Complex, the main competition venue, and the Volleyball Hall of the Federation. Japan will take on Hong Kong China in the curtain-raisers at Azadi Sports Complex at 10:30am local time, followed by the match between Australia and Qatar at 1:30pm, Thailand against Chinese Taipei at 4pm and hosts Iran against Sri Lanka at 6.30pm.
At the second hall, Indonesia will play Kuwait in the first match at 10:30am and China will meet Oman at 1:30pm. India will meet Kazakhstan at 4pm, with Korea taking on Pakistan at 6:30pm.
After the three-day pool plays, top two teams from each pool will advance to the round of the top 8 teams, split into Pool E and Pool F. Top two teams from Pool A and C will compete in Pool E, with teams from Pool B and D playing in Pool F. Teams finishing third and fourth places at the pool round-robin preliminaries will be relegated to classification round for 9th-16th places.
Advancing to Pool E and Pool F, teams will again play a round-robin format and will be ranked 1-2-3-4 respectively up to their performances at the end of this round. Only top two teams from Pool E and Pool F will enter the cross semi-finals, while teams finishing 3rd and 4th places of both pools will contest the 5th-8th playoff encounters.
To make sure that everything is in order ahead of the kickoff of the Championship, the first joint meeting was held on Wednesday between the Control Committee, chaired by Mr Saeed Derakshandeh, and the local organisers at the president’s office. Dr. Ali Fatahi, Secretary-General of the Islamic Republic of Iran Volleyball Federation, himself the Executive Director of the Competition, delivered a welcome speech on behalf of the host country, to the Control Committee members.
The meeting was aimed at checking the readiness for the 20th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship and regarded as a feasibility check to take a proactive and collaborative approach to ensure that all is set ahead of the start of the Championship on September 13. The venue inspection was also held on the same occasion.
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