Asian V’ ball qualifiers in Dhaka
The Asian Volleyball Championship 2015 Central Zone qualifiers will begin in Dhaka from May 25. The eight nations divided into two groups of four will vie for a single berth in the final round of the championship to be held in Tehran. The nations are Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and hosts Bangladesh. Just one team from this group will be flown to Tehran.
Although Bangladesh is not a team to reckon, volleyball is played in every village, in every town. From that point, volleyball is a popular sport in the country. So, the qualifying matches may draw huge crowd every day in the stadium. Regarding the prospect of the hosts, we are unable to say anything as we have no idea about the other participating nations. Asia Champions Iran, runners-up China, Australia, Japan and South Korea are the Grade A teams. Iran are fifth in the World Volleyball League and are favourites to retain the continental title. Sixteen nations have already qualified. They are Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Korea, Japan, China, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Turkmenistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.
We hope that Bangladeshi players will play their best to sail to the final round to be held in Iran.
Abdullah Akber
Dhaka
