By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) announced Saturday, May 15, that it has given the Philippines the hosting rights for the 21st Asian Senior Women’s Championships.
The top-tier tournament is scheduled Aug. 29 to Sept. 5 with Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center in Angeles City, Pampanga as the main venue.
A facility in Subic is being eyed as a secondary venue.
This will mark as the third time that the country will be hosting the said event following the 1997 and 2017 editions.
Jiangmen, China was supposed to host the event but pulled out for some reasons.
As hosts, the PH women’s team earns an automatic slot to the tournament, which is expected to have 16 teams.
Eleven teams have already qualified namely 2019 champion Japan and runner-up Thailand, South Korea, China, Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Indonesia, Australia, India and Hong Kong.
Qualifications are based on top 10 rankings from previous championships, five teams each of the five zones including West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania, and one for the host nation.
For any unused quota, the spot will be reallocated to the next highest ranked nation.
Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) President Tats Suzara said the tournament will be under a bubble-style format where there will be no spectators.
The PNVF also eyes the women’s training pool to have a training camp in Subic starting June 1.
