Our national under-20 volleyball team is preparing to participate in the 22nd edition of the Asian Under-20 Volleyball Championship, which will be held in the Indonesian city of Surabaya from July 23 to 30. This championship is an important milestone in the journey of the team, which hopes to achieve positive results amidst strong competition.
The draw placed our national team in Group 2, which includes Iran, the title holder and champion twice in a row, China, the champion of 4 editions, and Chinese Taipei. Our team will start its participation by facing Chinese Taipei on July 23, then meet China on July 24, and conclude its matches by meeting Iran on July 25. In preparation for this tournament, our national team will play a number of friendly matches in the city of Surabaya, with the aim of achieving the best possible preparation for official competitions, and raising the level of collective and individual performance of the players.
The team delegation is headed by Saeed Jumaa Al-Hitmi, a member of the Board of Directors, and includes Ali Al-Haddad, the team manager, Santiago Garcia, the coach, Jumaa Faraj, the assistant coach, Juan Cruz, the assistant coach, Pablo Periotti, the fitness coach, and Youssef Al-Haddad, the accompanying referee, in addition to 14 players: Mohammed Ashraf, Ahmed Adel, Badr Al-Zanari, Abdul Rahim Al-Sayed, Mahdi Zuhair Balhaj, Omar Ashraf, Mohammed Yasser, Tamim Mohammed, Mohammed Al-Yafei, Bilal Tariq, Mujtaba Taj, Al-Khalil Al-Abd, Hamad Al-Khenji, and Saad Al-Hashemi.
In a related context, the Asian Volleyball Federation announced the tournament schedule, where the teams will compete in four groups. Group 1 includes the teams of Indonesia (host), Saudi Arabia, the Eastern Region, and Oceania. Group 3 includes the teams of India, the bronze medalist of the 2022 edition in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Japan (champion of 3 editions), and Kuwait. Group 4 includes the teams of South Korea (champion of 6 editions), Thailand, the Central Region, and the Southeast Region. On another level, our national team under 20 years will participate in the second edition of the West Asian Youth Championship, which will be held in the city of Al Ain, UAE, during the period from August 14 to 25, with the participation of 10 teams.
