Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam will contest single round-robin event
Thailand, fresh from winning their historic title at the 2023 AVC Challenge Cup for Men in Chinese Taipei which earned them a final berth in the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup in Qatar between July 27 and 31, will renew their rivalry with Vietnam on the opening day of the inaugural Men’s SEA Volleyball League, which will kick off its first phase in Indonesia on Friday, July 21.
The SEA (Southeast Asian) Volleyball League (formerly known as Asean Grand Prix) is a series of international volleyball tournaments in Southeast Asia featuring teams from Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia and organized with aims of helping uplevel the Southeast Asian teams’ performances apart from promoting volleyball in the region and strengthening cordial relationship among the SEA nations.
The first two editions of the women’s event had been held in 2019 (first phase in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand and second phase in Santa Rosa, Philippines) and 2022 (only one phase was hosted by Thailand and took place in Nakhon Ratchasima).
The third edition of the women’s event is set to be held in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam (first phase between August 4 and 6) and Chiang Mai, Thailand (second phase during August 11-13), while the men’s event, which was not organized in 2019 and 2022, will make its presence felt this year.
Like the women’s event, the inaugural Men’s SEA Volleyball League is split into two phases – the first phase in Indonesia between July 21 and 23 and the second one in Philippines from July 28 to 30, with teams strutting their stuff in the single round-robin competition in each phase.
The first phase of the Men’s SEA Volleyball League will take place at Padepokan Voli Jenderal Polisi Kunarto Gymnasium in Jakarta, Indonesia, with world No. 58 Thailand set to take on Vietnam, world No.56 and bronze medallists at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia early this year, in the opening match on July 21 which recognizes as a final rematch of the semifinals of the recent AVC Challenge Cup in Chinese Taipei.
Thailand, with Korean coach Park Kiwon at the helm, is sending a strong squad, all of them joined the gold-medal winning team in the AVC Challenge Cup, while opposite hitter Nguyen Van Quoc Duy is another major weapon to be added to Vietnam, which is fielding all 13 players from the AVC Challenge Cup.
In the second match on Friday, world No.68 and defending successive…
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