All is set for the 12th Asian Women’s U17 Volleyball Championship, the first Championship in which the AVC-initiated new competition format will come into effect with aims of improving the match day atmosphere and thrilling fans with action-packed competitions from the very beginning.
The top-notch championship will be held at the Nakhon Pathom Municipality Gymnasium between May 20 and 27, with a total of 13 teams vying for the top honour and four tickets to contest the next year’s FIVB Women’s U18 World Championship in Mexico. However, Uzbekistan backed out of the competition a few weeks earlier.
World No.3 and four-time winners China, reigning and successive six-time champions Japan and Korea are in Pool A, with Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and hosts Thailand in Pool B. Pool C comprise Iran, New Zealand and Australia, while India joins Malaysia and Kazakhstan in Pool D.
On Sunday, Malaysia and Kazakhstan set up the curtain-raisers of the one-week competition, followed by the thrilling matches between Hong Kong and Thailand and New Zealand against Australia. The day’s highlight can be expected from last match of the day between Japan and Korea.
Ahead of the Sunday’s official kickoff, a joint meeting was held on Friday between Control Committee, chaired by AVC Secretary-General Mr Shanrit Wongprasert, and local organizing committee to confirm match schedule and all activities related to the competition.
“We suffer on the tight schedule. Apart from the Asian Women’s U17 Championship, which will be concluded on May 27, Thailand Volleyball Association have to be well-prepared for the Volleyball Nations League in Bangkok between May 29 and 31. So, we have to fix all the schedules here. Some staff members here might have many activities to deal with. We just make sure that everything is put in the right place ahead of the start of the Asian Women’s U17 Championship on May 20. With cooperation among CC members and full supports from the organisers, I believe the championship will be a success,” Mr Shanrit said in the meeting.
Technical Delegate Dr Eom Han-Joo informed the meeting that the AVC new competition format will be used for the first time in the Asian Women’s U17 Championship.
“The AVC new competition system will be used for the first time this year for all AVC Championships, starting with the Asian Women’s U17 Championship here. The new format will make teams at the same level locked in tight contests from the beginning of the tournament. And of course, this will thrill fans who can watch closely-contested matches from the opening day. It’s totally different from the previous tournaments when we had to watch boring matches of strong teams taking on lower-ranked sides on the first three days of the tournament,” Dr Eom indicated.
“For the AVC new competition system, teams will be ranked respectively for pool assignments according to their performances in the previous edition, while teams which did not participate in the previous event will be assigned to the last pools. The teams, especially the lower-ranked sides, will have to fight all-out from the beginning to keep their hopes of advancing to the next rounds alive, So, the championship will have every one so excited, while expectations of each team are soaring,” he added.
Following the joint meeting on Friday, the first venue inspection was made which found that the Nakhon Pathom Municipality Gymnasium, fresh from hosting the “Princess Cup” 20th South East Asian Women’s U17 Championship from May 13 to 17, is well-prepared for the staging of the 12th Asian Women’s U17 Championship.
All participating teams already arrived in town on Saturday, ready to test their mettle in the championship, while the preliminary enquiry also came to a fruitful outcome.
The General Technical Meeting, presided by Lt. Col. Dr Sinthop Kaewphijit, president of Nakhon Pathom Sport Association, took place on Saturday at the Mida Grande Dhavaravati Nakhon Pathom Hotel, with team managers, staff coaches and team doctors from all participating teams in attendance to hear and understand the meeting agenda, all informations and requirements related to the competition.
The meeting was followed by the simple opening ceremony, with flag bearers from participating teams marching into the ball room, where the welcome dinner was held. Dr Sinthop delivered his welcome speech to all participants and flag bearers then placed down their flags. Everyone enjoyed all the dishes at the dinner buffet. Some traditional dances were performed on the stage, with all participating teams taking turns in showing their fun dances.
MATCH SCHEDULE (all local times)
POOL ROUND-ROBIN PRELIMINARIES
MAY 20, 2018
11.30am: Malaysia v Kazakhstan
2pm: Hong Kong v Thailand
4.30pm: New Zealand v Australia
7pm: Japan v Korea
MAY 21, 2018
11.30am: Chinese Taipei v Hong Kong
2pm: China v Japan
4.30pm: Iran v New Zealand
7pm: India v Malaysia
MAY 22, 2018
11.30am: Australia v Iran
2pm: Thailand v Chinese Taipei
4.30pm: Kazakhstan v India
7pm: Korea v China
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