Sri Lanka to host AVC men’s Challenge Cup
The Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) has nominated the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation (SLVB) to conduct the Asian Volleyball Challenge Cup for Men for this year from September 15 to 22.
The decision was taken at the Asian Volleyball Congress held in Bangkok, Thailand. Three countries had bid to stage the championships other than Sri Lanka. The other countries are Maldives, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
It was decided to hand over the contest to Sri Lanka due to the prevailing situation of volleyball.
This is the first time that a Asian Senior Men’s Tournament is being staged in Sri Lanka. Before that a Central Asia Zonal Youth Tournament was held in Sri Lanka.
Ten countries will take part in the first Asian Senior Men’s Tournament, They are: Malaysia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Iraq.
The tournament will be held in three groups. Sri Lanka has been classified to Group A with Malaysia and Fiji. Group B will consist of Mongolia, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Group C – United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Iraq.
A 30 member Sri Lankan pool has commenced training for the event. The Consultant Coach is a Serbian who is drawing a salary of SLR 500,000. The SLVB has given him a target that Sri Lanka must win the tournament.