BAC NINH READY TO HOST ASIAN WOMEN’S U19 CHAMPIONSHIP FROM JUNE 10-17

Bac Ninh, Vietnam, June 9, 2018 – Indomitable giants China will be back to defend their tile when the SMM 19th Asian Women’s U19 Volleyball Championship will be held from June 10 to 17, with 15 teams vying for the top honours and two berths for the 2019 FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship in Italy.

The top-flight event will simultaneously kick off its pool round-robin preliminaries in two competition venues, the main competition venue at the 4,000-seater Bac Ninh Gymnasium and the second venue at the Bac Ninh University Hall.

It will be the second time that all participating teams will compete under the new AVC format, which sees top four teams at the previous edition in elite Pool A. The lower-ranked sides will be in the respective Pool B and Pool C, with the teams not taking part in the previous edition being included in Pool D.

According to the draw results determined by the teams’ performances at the previous edition in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand two years ago, defending world and Asian champions China, Japan, Thailand and hosts Vietnam are in Pool A, while Korea join Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and India in Pool B. Pool C comprises Iran, Australia, Macao and Hong Kong, while New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia are in Pool D.

After the pool round-robin preliminaries, teams will be ranked respectively, with R1 (ranked No.1), R2, R3 and R4 in Pool A and R5 (ranked No.5), R6, R7 and R8 in Pool B. Pool C will see teams being R9 (ranked No.9), R10, R11 and R12, while Pool D teams will be R13 (ranked No.13), R14, R15 and R16.

In the second round, R1 will play R16, R2 take on R15, R3 face R14, R4 challenge R13 and so on, with the eight winning teams advancing to the knock-out quarter-finals and the losers relegated to the 9th-16th classification.

On Sunday, the very first day of the championship at Bac Ninh Gymnasium, Hong Kong will play Iran, Japan will be pitted against China in a rematch of the 2016 final showdown, Korea will take on Chinese Taipei, followed by the opening ceremony and hosts Vietnam will challenge Thailand in the curtain-raisers.

In the Bac Ninh University Hall, Macao will face Australia, New Zealand will take on Malaysia, with India playing Kazakhstan.

Only three teams had already captured the Asian Women’s U19 title. Korea reigned supreme over the inaugural championship in 1980 at home in Seoul, while reigning champions China took the lion’s share of 12 titles including successive four wins and Japan claimed 5 titles.

Actually, a total of 16 teams earlier confirmed their participation in the 19th edition in Bac Ninh, Vietnam, but Uzbekistan recently withdrew from the competition, leaving only 15 teams in contention for the eventual Asian title.

The venue inspection was completed a few days ahead of the competition, while the General Technical Meeting, chaired by Control Committee Chairman Dr Eom Han Joo and attended by staff coaches, team managers from all participating teams, was held on Saturday to make sure everything is put in the right place and all is firmly set for the kickoff of the competition on June 10 at both venues.

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