Teams start training at the main competition venue in University of Taipei (Hall 1)
The 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Men is set to kick off at University of Taipei (Hall 1) and Taipei Gymnasium (Hall 2) in Chinese Taipei on July 8, with 15 strong teams vying for top honor and the lone berth for the 2023 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup in Qatar later this month.
A total of 8 teams will strut their stuff in the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup in Doha between July 26 and 30, 2023. Chile, Dominican Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and hosts Qatar have already qualified, while the last two teams to join the fray comprise the eventual winners from the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup in Chinese Taipei and the lowest-ranked Challenger team of the current edition of the VNL. The winner of the 2023 VCC shall be promoted and compete in the 2024 edition of the Volleyball Nations League.
Regarding the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Men, its fourth edition, in Taipei, Chinese Taipei between July 8 to 15, participating teams had been divided into six pools. Hosts Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan are in Pool A, with Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Korea in Pool B. Pool C features India and Hong Kong, China (Uzbekistan withdrew). Mongolia joined Philippines and Macao China in Pool D, while Pool E consists of Australia and Vietnam (Pakistan pulled out of the tournament some days ahead of the kickoff). Pool F comprises Bahrain, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Teams will contest the pool round-robin preliminaries, with the top two teams from each pool advancing. The third-ranked teams from each pool will be next assigned in Pool G, playing for 13th-17th places. A drawing of lots will be conducted to decide the numbers from G1 to G5. Teams finishing second in each pool will also have a drawing of lots to pair with the first-ranked teams in each pool.
To make things clear that all is set for the fourth edition of the AVC Challenge Cup for Men in Taipei, Chinese Taipei, the joint meeting between the Control Committee and the local organisers took place a few days ahead of the matchdays. CC President and Technical Delegate Mr Shanrit Wongprasert, himself AVC Executive Director, presided over the meeting.
Also in attendance included Technical Sub Committees Mr Shihab Al Din Ahmed Said Al Riyami, Mr Huang You-Kuang, Mr Naichi Chang, Referee Delegate Mr Songsak Chareonpong, Referee Sub Committees Mr Takashi Shimoyama, Mr Chang Jing Jong and Mr Dean Turner.
Shortly after end of meeting, Control Committee Members and the local organisers inspected the training and competition venues and found that main venue at University of Taipei and second hall at Taipei Gymnasium are ready for staging of the tournament.
The Referee & VIS Clinic was also held for both theoretically and practically. Referee Delegate Mr Songsak and Referee Sub Committees Mr Shimoyama, Mr Chang and Mr Dean instructed all accompanying referees officiating in the tournament in the Friday morning, with referees, Court & Referee Managers & Supervisors, Announcers, Scorers, Line judges, Moppers, Ball retrievers & VIS staff attending.
Later in the practical part of the Referee & VIS Clinic in the afternoon, those who attended the theoretical session earlier officiated at a match performed by two demonstration teams. This was to improve the quality of officiating while all of them are on duty during the matchdays.
Satisfaction could be made over the referees’ capabilities as they put in a very good performance during the clinic. This could heighten the level of the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Men in terms of the referees’ decision-making and their performances.
On Saturday, July 8, the first day of the topflight tournament, Korea, host and third place at the 2022 VCC, are set to take on Thailand in the opening clash at University of Taipei Hall.
This time, current world No.33 Korea are strengthened by five key players who joined the team at the last year’s VCC including hard-hitting Heo Subong, who was the best spiker on 54 kills in the 2022 VCC, while veteran Kissada Nilsawai, Napadet Bhinijdee and Mawin Maneewong are the mainstays of world No.60 Thailand.
The second match at this competition venue will be another thrilling clash between consecutive three-time South East Asian (SEA) Games champions Indonesia, powered by ace spiker Rivan Nurmulki, and Sri Lanka.
The opening ceremony will be held later here at this venue, followed by the curtain-raiser between hosts and world No.44 Chinese Taipei, fourth place at the 2021 Asian Senior Men’s Championship in Chiba/Funabashi in Japan, and Kazakhstan, world No. 61 and former two-time Asian silver medallists.
At the Taipei Gymnasium, Macao, China set up the first clash against Mongolia, while Australia received a bye following the late withdrawal of Pakistan. Australia were the team that had fallen out of the men’s VNL 2022 and had to look for their way back through the VCC in South Korea. Their hopes, however, were dashed on the first competition day, when the home team knocked them out in a hard-fought five-setter, the most interesting of the four quarterfinals.
This time, Australia will be fielding eight key players who competed in the last year’s VCC including Matthew Aubrey, Nicholas Butler and Sam Flowerday. Hong Kong, China also received a bye due to the Uzbekistan’s withdrawal.
Among the 15 teams participating in the AVC Challenge Cup for Men in Taipei, Chinese Taipei, only Korea and Australia had already qualified for the inaugural FIVB Volleyball Nations League in 2018, with the former finishing on the bottom 16th place and the latter the 13th position.
Australia also competed in two more editions of the VNL in 2019 and 2021 when the 2007 Asian winners completed their action-packed campaign in respective 13th and 16th places.
*****Live streaming of matches from the main venue at University of Taipei (Hall 1) is available on AVC YouTube, while matches at Taipei Gymnasium (Hall 2) can be viewed via AVC Facebook.
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