Qatar booked their place in this year’s FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup after winning the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup in Bahrain last month.
Doha, Qatar: Asian powerhouse and last year’s runners-up Qatar will take on Africa’s top-ranked team Egypt in Friday’s last eight clash, eyeing the 2024 FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup title in China.
The high-profile spike contest, limited to eight top men’s teams, is set to take place at the Eastern Chinese city of Linyi in the Shandong Province from July 4 to 7.
The opening day of the four-day tournament on Thursday will consist of two high-stakes matches as hosts China will take on Mexico with Belgium pitted against Croatia in the all-European tie. Also on Friday, Ukraine and Chile will square off in the third quarter-final ahead of the tie between Camilo Andres Soto-coached Qatar and Egypt.
On July 7 - the final day - classification match for the third place is scheduled with the tournament culminating with the title clash at 7:00 am Qatar time.
At last year’s FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup, hosts Qatar went down fighting to Turkiye in an epic five-setter (13–25, 25–21, 18–25, 25–22, 9–15) following dominant straight-set wins over in Thailand (quarter-finals) and Chile (semi-final) at the Aspire Ladies sports Hall in Doha.
Qatar booked their place in this year’s FIVB event after etching their domination at the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup in Bahrain where they overcame Pakistan in an exhilarating final showdown recently.
The exceptional 25-22, 25-20, 25-19 victory not only secured their berth in the China event but also gave them the opportunity to compete for a place in the revamped Volleyball Nations League next year, which has been expanded to 18 teams.
Meanwhile, the women’s FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup also begins simultaneously in Manila, Philippines, with Puerto Rico, Kenya, Czechia, Argentina, Vietnam and the host nation batling for top honours.
