2018 Asian Games (Jakarta & Palembang)

  • it seems that the tournament began with a few surprises in the first round.


    VIE beat CHN 3-2.


    MYA beat KAZ 3-1.


    KSA, which finished last in the last few asian championships, surprised the hosts INA.


    KOR struggled to beat TPE 3-2.


    not a surprise, but QAT -- with its foreign mercenaries -- which had recently finished second at the 2018 AVC cup, had no trouble with IND.


    in 2nd round,


    CHN almost suffered a 2nd upset, but barely beat out THA 3-2 (after being down 0-2).


    ishikawa is reported to be back in JPN team, which struggled to beat KAZ.


    i'm gonna guess that videos are not available...


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…%80%93_Men%27s_tournament

  • I will use this thread to ask a question that's been bothering me for some time. It's not quite off-topic and I think it will help other users, too, so I will leave it here.


    What is the importance of the international volleyball tournaments in Asia? Is there a tournament where we can watch the top Asian teams in their full rosters playing for real? I am asking this because I read the threads about the Iranian and Chinese NTs and often confuse what is/should be considered important. Do some of them grant (more or additional) World Ranking points (I guessed only the Asian Volleyball Championship did) and what's the deal with federations not setting importance on a continental event?


    The Asian Volleyball Championship is set every two years, on an odd number (2017, 2019, etc.), and I thought this is the top event in Asian men's volleyball. However, Iran, for instance, totally ignored it in 2017. Then there is the Asian Volleyball Cup, held again every two years on an even number (2016, 2018, etc.). But this doesn't seem really important either and a lot of great players have missed it over the years. And last, there is the Asian Games, held every 4 years, of course. But again there are absences, like Japan this year, for example. And I can't imagine that the Games is as important, prestigious, or Rankings-beneficial as the Asian Championship. If that is true, how come teams somehow neglect (at least it seems so to me) the continental event?

  • i was wrong, JPN has sent a B team, no ishikawa in the team.


    i don't know the answer to your question, yavor, but i think asian champs, are every 4 years, not 2. i know the women's is, so i guess the men's is the same.


    AVC cup is not a top tier tournament. from the latest edition, it seems countries like QAT, THA, TPE, KAZ will send A teams, but the bigger powers (AUS, IRN, CHN, JPN, KOR) usually do not. it seems to be a good evaluation tournament for these countries to send junior or B teams.


    the asian games seem not to have attracted some A teams, as it is too close to the WCh, but IRN did send its A team, as mosi (?) noted in the other thread. CHN, JPN did not, but KOR did (but they are not going to WCh).

  • I will use this thread to ask a question that's been bothering me for some time. It's not quite off-topic and I think it will help other users, too, so I will leave it here.


    What is the importance of the international volleyball tournaments in Asia?

    The Asian Games is the most important and prestigious ....just like the Pan American Games....It is basically the Olympics of Asia, multi-sport event.

    And then you have these other tournaments....I just don`t know which ones give rankings points and which not.


    I`m not Asian so I can`t really tell....but the Pan American Games used to be a very prestigious tournament of big importance...but things started to change as fans started to loose interest and lately almost every nation in almost every sport does not send their main athletes anymore...so it is turning into a "B" level tournament.... maybe same thing is happening with the Asian Games that`s why some teams are not sending their "A" team".????????????????????????????


    And another thing to consider when it comes down to volleyball....both in Asia and America there`s only 4 at the most teams that are actually able to compete both in men`s and women`s.....So the level is not high at all...very far from the ECH where you have a lot of good teams competing.

    That`s of of the reasons why some teams won`t send their A team especially if there`s something already on the schedule like the WCH this year....So if Japan sent their B team is because they prefer focus on the WCH rather of going to the Asia Games and playing against very low level teams which won`t help improve their game in any aspect.


    In the women`s side I think everyone sent their A team....but there`s still 30 days for the women`s WCH so they can use this as preparation...and still there`s only 4 good teams ( CHN,JAP,KOR,THA).

  • Thanks for the answers! Well, most ranking points are granted at the Asian Championship, if I am not mistaken, so I guess it is a matter of prestige and willingness of teams/federations that decides participants' rosters.

    i don't know the answer to your question, yavor, but i think asian champs, are every 4 years, not 2. i know the women's is, so i guess the men's is the same.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…s_Volleyball_Championship


    I think I have it right when I said it takes place every two years.

  • it's not always about the ranking. at least for Iran, Asian Games is the most important competition in Asia, I think this is the same for other countries , they sent B teams only because of the World Championship , if you remember guys South Korea withdrew from 2002 World Championship to participate in Busan 2002 Games.


    then it's the Asian Championship, I know Iran didn't take 2017 and 2015 Championships seriously , they sent B team to 2015 (which hosted by Iran) and a very bad U21 team to Indonesia for 2017. I remember sometimes Australia also didn't bring its best European-based players. but still most of the times we see Asian teams bringing their best possible teams. to me that was very stupid from the Iranian federation to sent B/U21 teams. and i have to say they also wanted to send B team to the Asian Games but the Iran NOC pushed them to send A team. and as I mentioned in another post, most of the players also wanted to play in Jakarta for some personal reasons.


    AVC Cup is a totally non-important competition. Iran used to take it serious when Iran was also a second tier team in Asia. right now top teams don't take it seriously at all and from what I heard 2017 was the last edition of AVC Cup . at least under current format.

  • mosi, what are they going to change with AVC cup?

    I'm sure I heard something about that but I can't remember exactly unfortunately. but they are trying to find a solution to improve their competitions, they want to revolutionary change their calendar. I mean we had Asian Club Championship only few days before the AVC Cup and we had more or less the same teams competing in both competitions . and then most of those teams left to Indonesia for the Asian Games. for example Vietnam. this is the 3rd tournament in a month for the exact group of players. or Kazakhstan or Thailand. I think that was smart from Qatar to withdraw from the AVC Club Champs. they won the AVC Cup and they have a very good chance for a bronze here.


    if I'm not wrong they want to create something specifically for second/third tier teams, and not letting VNL teams sending B/C squads. but since this is AVC I'm not really optimistic about a positive change. I mean take a look at their "new format" nobody understands how the hell they set things in knockout round. even at the Asian Games. Iran got a "bye" in quarterfinal ! AVC's changes are not usually positive !


    PS: AVC Club Championship is supposed to be a club competitions but as we know most countries simply send their national teams under a sponsor name. sometimes they don't even have a name !

  • mosi, yes, i noticed in the AVC cup and then now in asian games, how the procedure for QF and semis was totally incomprehensible. look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Asian_Men's_Volleyball_Cup


    (dang, why is the link broken above?)


    how does it make sense that with 3 pools of 3 teams each, that 7 teams advance to QF, and 2 teams to playoffs, but the two teams are the 2nd team finisher in two of the pools????? i couldn't understand how that works. similarly in asian games brackets, nobody understands how that works.


    in comparison, pan american cup and pan am games, they can set up QF and semis very well, even if htey have only 3 pools (of 4 teams each).


    i guess i'm not surprised any federations are corrupt and incompetent.


    anyway, the two countries that sent team A, IRN and KOR have reached the final.



    OT: mosi, why did IRN not send a women's team?

  • OT: mosi, why did IRN not send a women's team?


    simply because they had absolutely no chance for medal. that was Iran NOC's policy, there were few exceptions in individual sports but in team sports only those who can challenge for a medal.

  • sorry for the OT, but maybe if IRN would support its women athletes the way they support the men... :- (


    Iran also didn't send a team in men's baseball or men's hockey because they were not competitive. actually they are "less strict" about the women. at least in this case it's not about gender, the NOC just doesn't send non-competitive teams. it's not the volleyball federation's decision.


    there is no doubt that the situation is not equal for the women's team. and there are so many limitations for the girls but at least in this case it's not about the gender but the quality.


    btw that was an easy competition for Iran. they won the gold without dropping a set. and we will see how much it will affect the team in the World Championship.