Big volleyball back to Manila for Volleyball Challenger Cup’s last edition

Just two weeks after welcoming eight of the world’s best men’s national teams for a week of Volleyball Nations League action, Manila and its fantastic sports fans will set the stage for some more big volleyball as eight women’s national teams from around the world take to the Ninoy Aquino Stadium for the fifth and final edition of the women’s Volleyball Challenger Cup taking place from Thursday to Sunday of this week. The Philippines will host Argentina, Belgium, Czechia, Kenya, Puerto Rico, Sweden and Vietnam in the single-elimination four-day tournament that will determine the last winner in the history of the competition and issue a ticket to VNL 2025.

• Watch Volleyball Challenger Cup 2024 live on VBTV

In Thursday’s tournament opener, Puerto Rico will take on Kenya at 15:00 local time (07:00 UTC). The Caribbean team, currently number 15 in the FIVB Volleyball World Ranking, were the first to qualify for the Challenger Cup by winning the NORCECA Final Four last year. They have participated twice within the previous four editions of the competition and earned the bronze medals in both 2018 and 2022. For Kenya, the world’s number 20 team, the tournament in Manila will be an important test ahead of their trip to Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games. They booked their spot in the Challenger Cup as the highest ranked African team for the second consecutive time. Upon their debut in 2023, they were eliminated by Colombia in the quarterfinals. Puerto Rico have won all six encounters with Kenya in world-level competitions since 2002, most recently claiming a 3-1 victory at the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship.

Thursday’s second quarterfinal, at 18:30 (10:30) will feature an exciting all-European clash between Belgium and Sweden. Belgium took up the last available vacancy in the Challenger Cup line-up as the highest ranked eligible team (number 13) not yet qualified. They will make their second appearance at the competition. In 2022, they settled for silver after losing to hosts Croatia in the final. The world’s number 24 team Sweden qualified for Manila as the 2024 CEV Volleyball European Golden League champions and will also play in the Challenger Cup for the second time, after losing the 2023 final to hosts France. Belgium and Sweden met as many as six times in the European League over the last two editions of the continental competition and the Scandinavians won four of those matches, including a five-set thriller in one of last month’s semifinals.

The second day of quarterfinals in Manila will start at the same time with a duel between Czechia and Argentina. The European side reserved their Challenger Cup berth by finishing European Golden League runners-up to Sweden after a dramatic five-set final. Currently ranked number 16 in the world, they will appear in the competition for the third time. Their best result so far was the silver medal in 2019, when they lost to Canada in another five-set final. Argentina, the world’s number 17, on the other hand, qualified as the highest ranked eligible South American team. In their only previous appearance in 2019, they took bronze. In fact it was Czechia that shut out Argentina in one of the 2019 Challenger Cup semifinals to follow up on winning the previous two encounters with this opponent in the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix. Argentina, however, celebrated a 3-1 victory over Czechia in their latest encounter at the 2022 World Championship.

In the last of four quarterfinals, the Philippines will try to take inspiration from the home fans on the stands to overcome Vietnam in an all-Asian battle. Competing as the host nation, the Philippines are set to make their debut in the Challenger Cup. They are currently number 55 in the World Ranking. Number 34 Vietnam qualified for the Challenger Cup by winning the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup, which took place in late May also in Manila, where the home team took bronze achieving their first-ever podium finish in any senior-level AVC competition. The Philippines and Vietnam did not meet at that continental tournament. In the eight most recent encounters between the two teams in official competition, Vietnam won seven times, while the Philippines’ most recent victory over this opponent dates back to the 2017 Asian Championship.

In Saturday’s semifinals, the winner of the Puerto Rico v Kenya quarterfinal will meet the winner of the Belgium v Sweden match-up, and the winner of the Philippines v Vietnam game will take on the winner of the Czechia v Argentina encounter. Sunday’s bronze medal match is set to start at 15:00 local time (07:00 UTC). The final is scheduled three and a half hours later, at 18:30 (10:30).

Volleyball Challenger Cup 2024: full schedule

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