Pakistan makes bid for AVC Cup 2024

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has submitted a strong bid to the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) to host the AVC Challenge Cup next year where in all probabilities around 15 teams are expected to compete.

Talking to 'The News' from Urmia (Iran) just a day ahead of the start of the Asian Volleyball Championship, Ch Mohamad Yaqoob, Chairman of Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF), confirmed that he has placed the bid with the AVC to host the Challenge Cup in 2024.

“I have bid to host the AVC Challenge Cup, the same tournament held in Chinese Taipei just last month. We hope that our bid would be successful as we have promised to complete all the relevant conditions to host the high-profile event in the best possible way. The condition of having two halls can easily be managed in Islamabad,” he said.

He, however, rued missing the AVC Cup in Chinese Taipei where Foreign Office refused NOC to the Pakistan team, enabling low-ranked teams like Thailand and Bahrain to make their mark.

“Thailand won that event with Bahrain coming second and making it to the world championship. Had we competed in the event, it would have been a cakewalk for us as our team is far better. We had the opportunity to make it to the world event. Now we have been left with tougher options.”

Pakistan just breezed past Bahrain in the practice match ahead of the start of the Championship in straight games and even won the fourth one that was only meant to give more practice to teams.

The team kicked off their preparatory phase with a match against Iran, the reigning Asian champion. The outing that enthralled the crowd resulted in a 3-1 set victory for Iran, with scores of 44-42, 23-25, 19-25, and 16-25. Pakistan displayed an impressive high-quality performance, especially in the first two sets, where they won one and narrowly lost the second.