Volleyball Challenger Cup 2024

Qatar win AVC Challenge Cup, qualify for Volleyball Challenger Cup

Pakistan and Korea complete the continental podium

Published 10:11, 10 Jun 2024

Qatar triumph as men’s 2024 AVC Challenge Cup champions (source: asianvolleyball.net)

Last year’s Volleyball Challenger Cup hosts and silver medallists Qatar will play in the competition for the third consecutive time. This year they qualified for the event as winners of the men’s 2024 AVC Challenge Cup held in Isa Town, Bahrain from June 2 to 9 and will represent Asia at the world-level tournament set to take place in Linyi, China from July 4 to 7 with a spot in next year’s Volleyball Nations League at stake.

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Qatar became the fifth team to qualify for Challenger Cup 2024 in China, after the host nation, NORCECA representatives Mexico, CSV representatives Chile and CAVB representatives Egypt. Two more participants will emerge from the 2024 CEV Volleyball European Golden League this weekend, and the last one will be determined after that, based on the FIVB World Ranking on June 17.

Qatar started their first AVC Challenge Cup campaign with a five-set loss to Korea, but then got on the winning track for the next four matches – against Indonesia in pool, against China in the quarterfinals, against Kazakhstan in the semifinals, and against Pakistan in the final – to top the podium. They dropped only a set in these four games, in their 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 25-19, 25-16) semifinal win over Kazakhstan. In Sunday’s crucial trophy match in front of about 2,500 spectators on the stands, the Qataris produced a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-19) shutout of Pakistan.

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To reach the final, Pakistan crowned a four-game winning streak in Isa Town with a 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 25-22) semifinal victory over Korea. For both Qatar and Pakistan, these were the first medals in the history of the competition.

Korea, on the other hand, took their second back-to-back bronze after a nail-biting 3-1 (27-25, 19-25, 27-25, 32-20) win over Kazakhstan in the third place match.

China, Vietnam, Bahrain, Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Chinese Taipei, in that order, lined up in the places from fifth to 12th in the final standings.

Qatar’s outside hitter Renan Ribeiro was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. The Dream Team was composed of setter Borislav Georgiev (Qatar), opposite Murad Khan (Pakistan), outsides Raimi Wadidie (Qatar) and Kim Jihan (Korea), middle blockers Mohamed Ibrahim (Qatar) and Musawer Khan (Pakistan), and libero Nasir Ali (Pakistan).