Asian Central Zone on Threshold of Qualification

The General Technical Meeting and Press Conference of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Qualification Tournament Asian Central Zone took place on Thursday, with Control Committee Chairman Mr Jaksuwan Tocharoen presiding.

To make sure the tournament is well-prepared ahead of the kickoff on Friday, the joint meeting between local organisers Volleyball Association of Maldives and Control Committee was held, with head coaches from three countries attending.

Jaksuwan, Secretary of AVC Sports Events Council and Secretary-General of the Thailand Volleyball Association, expressed on behalf of the AVC his sincere gratitude for the VAM’s generous supports for hosting the event.

India was initially chosen as the host country for the tournament. However, due to internal problems with the Volleyball Federation of India, the AVC decided to shift the competition venue from India to Maldives. The AVC informed all the participating teams in the tournament that if they wanted to compete in the event, they must reconfirm their participation to the AVC and the VAM by December 31. Hosts Maldives, Nepal, and Iran confirmed their participation and will play in Male from January 27 to 29. Only the top team in the three-day, single round-robin event will make the cut for the Asian Zone second round.

According to the match schedule, Maldives will take on Nepal in the curtain-raisers at Youth Centre Indoor Stadium on Friday. Nepal will next go up against Iran on Saturday, with Iran ending their campaign against hosts Maldives on Sunday.

At press time, Nepal had already captured their first win in the tournament when they stunned hosts Maldives in convincing straight sets 25-17 25-17 25-13 in their opening match on Friday.