China, Iran top preliminary-round pools in AVC Cup

 Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, September 25, 2016 – China and Iran were the only unbeaten teams at the completion of the round-robin preliminaries of the SMM 5th AVC Cup for Men at the Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium on Saturday.

Seven of the teams in Thailand will be playing in the FIVB World League next year. Qatar was the only Asian World League team who failed to make it to Thailand.

Old rivalries are continuing in Nakhon Pathom and these will continue in next year’s World League. Korea, Japan and Australia are in Pool B in the AVC Cup and they are all in Group 2 in the World League. Iran, who will be the only Asian team in Group 1 in the World League are also in Pool B

In Pool A, Chinese Taipei can get the measure of Kazakhstan, who they will face in Group 3 in the World League. The other teams in Pool A are China (Group 2 in the World League) and hosts Thailand, the only team who won’t be playing in the World League next year.

After the final day of preliminaries on Saturday, world No. 20 China, the bronze medallists at last year’s Asian Championship won three out of three in Pool A to finish with eight points.

China, who had five players from the seventh-place Chinese team in the 2016 FIVB World League Group 2, including Ji Daoshuai and Rao Shuhan, got the biennial tournament off to a brilliant start with a convincing 3-0 victory over the tall Kazakhstan side, before …

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