The tournament will be held in the period 18 - 27 July.
The draw:
Group A
Bahrain
China
Morocco
Puerto Rico
Group B
Cuba
Argentina
Egypt
South Korea
Group C
Russia
Iran
Czech Republic
Tunisia
Group D
Poland
Brazil
Canada
Italy
Poland are the defending U21 world champions.
https://www.facebook.com/uvc.n…/videos/2270525779721694/
Brazil and Argentina are facing off in a friendly game right now if there's anyone interested in watching.
Display Morehttp://www.volleychina.org/b/2019/0606/6043.html
The trainging roster of U21 NT for U21 WCH in July in Bahrain:
Head Coach: Liu Hao
Assistant Coaches: Shen An-dong, Wang Dao-yu, Cao Hua-ye
Players: (bold as the wide roster of the senior NT whether is now or before)
S - Chen Lei-yang, Chen Bo-liangOP - Xiu Cheng-cheng, Diao Jian-fei
OH - Tiao Cong, Li Ao, Zhai De-jun, Gao Zhuang
MB - Qi Qi, Li Tao, Zhang Xin-yu, Zhang Dong-zheng
L - Qu Zong-shuai, Qi Jia-hao
PS:
Qi Jia-hao is the second best libero in Chinese League 18/19 after Tong Jia-hua.
Chen Lei-yang, Xiu Cheng-cheng, Zhang Xin-yu and Qi Jia-hao all played many matches in Chinese League 18/19.
I hope this U21 NT become better than before.
In theory, of the 14 players, 12 ones will participate in 2019 U21 WCH.
Lol group D is absolutely stacked compared to the others
Some key players of Iran U21 team are already in the senior team and they were not supposed to play here but today it was announced that Yali and Hazratpour will go to Bahrain directly from Chicago !! Sharifi is already with them. this is weird and stupid, I understand Yali is not a key player and will be out of 14 man squad when Mahmoudi returns but Hazratpour is Iran's starting libero right now ! this will be a long summer with lots of NT competitions ! beside that I wonder if these players are motivated to play for U21 team ?!
but at least on paper with these guys plus Toukhteh and Esfandiar and considering the fact Iran was 2017 U19 World Champion, Iran will be one of the favorites . but even the first round will be tough Russia and Czech Rep were European Championship finalists.
The wide rosters of 16 teams have been given:
Is this being streamed/televised anywhere?
So I think Russia is the main favorite to win this tournament, after last year's two finalists Poland and Cuba are already out of the tournament. I think the other contenders are Iran and Italy. Sergei Tetyukhin's son, Pavel is playing in this tournament.
Is this being streamed/televised anywhere?
Try to find a live stream link for Bahrain Sport channel. they are showing every match live (intentionally) except for Iran matches 
China 3-0 South Korea
Team China lost to this Team South Korea twice in 2017 U19 ACH and 2018 U20 ACH.
I hope China could win Russia though it is too hard.
Bahrain getting through to the second round while Poland, Cuba, and Canada compete for 9th at best is so frustrating.
Bahrain getting through to the second round while Poland, Cuba, and Canada compete for 9th at best is so frustrating.
What do you think about this Chinese U21 men's NT?
Russia's U21 Opp, Sapozkhov is very promising. Very tall too at 210cm
Russia's U21 Opp, Sapozkhov is very promising. Very tall too at 210cm
Someone was telling me he might be even taller than that. Like 213/14
Someone was telling me he might be even taller than that. Like 213/14
He's listed as 216 on Russian Website.
http://www.volley.ru/news/20141/
BTW, Abaev destroyed everything 
Almost all of his sets are too low and short.
It's hard to imagine he will become a member of senior NT although he experienced many under-category tournaments.
After winning the world U19s Iran is now U21 world champs defeating Italy in final. The future is bright
After winning the world U19s Iran is now U21 world champs defeating Italy in final. The future is bright
Their captain OH is 209cm? If his reception is decent, he can reinforce the OH position of the senior NT, playing opposite Ebadipour, in the future.
Yali is a bit soft, from what I observed from the final game and his performance at VNL earlier summer. He still has a long way to go to secure a position at the senior NT.
Sharifi and the libero are already in NT. This libero is really talented!
Iran definitely is going to be stronger in the future.
Their captain OH is 209cm? If his reception is decent, he can reinforce the OH position of the senior NT, playing opposite Ebadipour, in the future.
Yali is a bit soft, from what I observed from the final game and his performance at VNL earlier summer. He still has a long way to go to secure a position at the senior NT.
Sharifi and the libero are already in NT. This libero is really talented!
yeah soft is the best word to describe Yali. he is good because of his height but I don't think he improves much. he is not even such an important player for his club in the local league. there are better opposites in the league but Kolakovic picked him probably only because of his age. if Mahmoudi is in shape, Yali will lose his spot as second OPP.
btw that was a very good result for Iranian volleyball. but I didn't like the idea of using Hazratpour for example in this tournament. he was already exhausted after the VNL and there are still lots of tournaments this summer ahead of him.
yeah soft is the best word to describe Yali. he is good because of his height but I don't think he improves much. he is not even such an important player for his club in the local league. there are better opposites in the league but Kolakovic picked him probably only because of his age. if Mahmoudi is in shape, Yali will lose his spot as second OPP.
btw that was a very good result for Iranian volleyball. but I didn't like the idea of using Hazratpour for example in this tournament. he was already exhausted after the VNL and there are still lots of tournaments this summer ahead of him.
I think if anyone is capable of playing a lot of volleyball games in one summer, it is a 20-year-old libero.