Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, March 27, 2017 – Four slots to FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in Bahrain will be up for grabs in the SMM 11th Asian Boys’ U19 Volleyball Championship between March 28 and April 5 at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium, Nay Pyi Taw, with reigning champions Iran pursuing their 8th crown.

Strong field of 11 teams will test their mettle in the top-flight competition to vie for the top honour and four World Championship berths. To achieve that ultimate goal, all participating teams have been divided into four pools of three teams apiece to contest the pool round-robin preliminaries. However, due to the last-minute withdrawal of Kazakhstan, only China and Chinese Taipei will battle it out in Pool D, but both sides have already ensured their places in the round of last eight teams.

Hosts Myanmar, Australia and Hong Kong are in Pool A. Korea, Bangladesh and Iran, which claimed their first title in 2001, lost to India in the 2003 showdown before regaining their lost pride by sweeping all six titles from 2005 to 2014, are in Pool B, while Pool C comprised Thailand, Sri Lanka and Japan.

After the pool plays, top two teams from each pool will advance to playoffs of the last eight teams in Pool E and F, while the teams finishing third from each pool will be relegated to 9th-11th classification round.

The opening ceremony will take place at Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium Hall B on Tuesday at 10.30am local time, followed by the curtain-raising match between hosts Myanmar and Hong Kong. Thailand are due to kick off their campaign against Sri Lanka in the day’s second match, with China taking on Chinese Taipei in the last match at Hall B. Korea and Bangladesh will contest the Pool B encounter at Hall C from 2pm.

Only top four teams from this Asian meet will join hosts Bahrain and the other 15 qualified teams for the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship in Isa Town and Riffa from August 18 to 27, 2017.

Meanwhile, Nay Pyi Taw has geared up its final preparation for hosting the 11th Asian Boys’ U19 Volleyball Championship. In the past three years, the Myanmar’s new capital has already hosted many major AVC tournaments including the Asian Men’s U23 Championship in 2015 and the Asian Men’s Club Championship in 2016.

The joint meeting between the Control Committee members and the local organisers was held at a meeting room inside the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium Hall B to check the Nay Pyi Taw’s readiness for hosting the event aside from asking for supports from parties concerned and evaluating undone tasks. This is to make sure that the host city gets set for the opening on March 28 and will have a smooth run for the whole tournament.

At the Sunday’s meeting, it was reported that Bangladesh will miss the General Technical Meeting for sure as they are due to arrive late Monday night.

The theoretical and practical parts of the referees and VIS Clinic were held on Monday morning, followed by the final inspection of competition halls. Both halls at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium are reportedly ready for the tournament.

Earlier, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia backed out of this championship and Kazakhstan became the third team to follow suits. Since the withdrawal of teams days ahead of the kickoff affects the match schedule, especially on TV live broadcast, and the hosts’ preparation, the Asia’s volleyball-governing body AVC, at their recent meeting among Committee members in Bangkok, Thailand, have already set up a measurement to prevent the last-minute withdrawal of teams in the near future.

MATCH SCHEDULE
Pool round-robin preliminaries (Myanmar time)
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Hall B
10.30am: Opening Ceremony
11.30am: Hong Kong v Myanmar
2pm: Thailand v Sri Lanka
4.30pm: China v Chinese Taipei
Hall C
2pm: Korea v Bangladesh

Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Hall B
11.30am: Australia v Hong Kong
2pm: Iran v Korea
4.30pm: Japan v Sri Lanka
Hall C
2pm: Kazakhstan v China

Thursday, March 30, 2017
Hall B
11.30am: Myanmar v Australia
2pm: Thailand v Japan
4.30pm: Chinese Taipei v Kazakhstan
Hall C
2pm: Bangladesh v Iran

Follow the competition via social media hastag : #AVCBoysU19