Argentina, Belgium, Czechia, Kenya, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Sweden and Vietnam to vie for promotion to VNL 2025
After a thrilling European Golden League semifinal, Sweden and Belgium will meet again in an intriguing Challenger Cup quarterfinal (source: cev.eu)
Just two weeks after welcoming eight of the world’s best men’s national teams for a week of Volleyball Nations League action, Manila and its fantastic sports fans will set the stage for some more big volleyball as eight women’s national teams from around the world take to the Ninoy Aquino Stadium for the fifth and final edition of the women’s Volleyball Challenger Cup taking place from Thursday to Sunday of this week. The Philippines will host Argentina, Belgium, Czechia, Kenya, Puerto Rico, Sweden and Vietnam in the single-elimination four-day tournament that will determine the last winner in the history of the competition and issue a ticket to VNL 2025.
- Watch Volleyball Challenger Cup 2024 live on VBTV
In Thursday’s tournament opener, Puerto Rico will take on Kenya at 15:00 local time (07:00 UTC). The Caribbean team, currently number 15 in the FIVB Volleyball World Ranking, were the first to qualify for the Challenger Cup by winning the NORCECA Final Four last year. They have participated twice within the previous four editions of the competition and earned the bronze medals in both 2018 and 2022. For Kenya, the world’s number 20 team, the tournament in Manila will be an important test ahead of their trip to Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games. They booked their spot in the Challenger Cup as the highest ranked African team for the second consecutive time. Upon their debut in 2023, they were eliminated by Colombia in the quarterfinals. Puerto Rico have won all six encounters with Kenya in world-level competitions since 2002, most recently claiming a 3-1 victory at the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship.
Thursday’s second quarterfinal, at 18:30 (10:30) will feature an exciting all-European clash between Belgium and Sweden. Belgium took up the last available vacancy in the Challenger Cup line-up as the highest ranked eligible team (number 13) not yet qualified. They will make their second appearance at the competition. In 2022, they settled for silver after losing to hosts Croatia in the final. The world’s number 24 team Sweden qualified for Manila as the 2024 CEV Volleyball European Golden League champions and will also play in the Challenger Cup for the second…
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