Pakistan Volleyball Federation invites Indian team for Asian Volleyball Challenge in Islamabad

The Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) has offered an invitation to India to participate in the Asian Volleyball Challenge (AVC) Cup, slated to be played in Islamabad from May 11-17, 2024.

PVF chief, Chaudhary Yaqoob intends to have the best teams compete in the competition, which is likely to see the participation of 10-12 teams. He also informed that the training camp is currently underway for the Pakistan players.

Nations like Iran, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan have confirmed their participation for the continental event.

“We won the bid to host the Asian Challenge Volleyball championship after much effort and we would like to see all the top teams in the continent competing in the event from May 11-17,” the PVF chief said in a press release.

The last edition of the AVC Cup took place in Taipei, Taiwan from July 8 to 15, 2023. It witnessed Thailand winning their maiden title after beating Bahrain 3-0.

Interestingly, Pakistan was denied a NOC by the Foreign Office, resulting in their withdrawal from the tournament. However, they submitted a strong bid and will now host the 2024 edition. It will be interesting to see the performance of the hosts in the tournament.

On the other hand, India remained winless in their campaign and finished 15th.

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Indian Volleyball team's performance in 2023

The Indian Volleyball team participated in the 2023 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship, that took place in Urmia, Iran from Aug.19–26, 2023.

India faced a 0-3 loss against Qatar, but followed it up by a 3-1 victory against Afghanistan. However, a 2-3 loss against China, and 0-3 loss against Indonesia dampened their chances of having a deeper run in the tournament.

The Indian team beat Iraq 3-0 to finish 11th in the competition, while Pakistan prevailed 3-1 over Bahrain to finish 7th. The best-ever performance of India came in the 2005 edition held in Thailand, when they finished fourth.

Meanwhile, Japan beat Iran, 3-0 to win the 2023 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship. Along with Japan, the silver medalist and bronze medalist, Iran and Qatar, respectively, qualified for the 2025 World Championship.

The Asian Games 2023 witnessed India finishing sixth, with three wins in five appearances. They secured victories over Cambodia (3-0), Republic of Korea (3-2), and Chinese Taipei (3-0), but faced two losses against Japan (0-3) and Pakistan (0-3).