Team Melli Banovan will face Chinese Taipei on Friday.
The third edition of the competition is being held in Manila’s historic Rizal Memorial Coliseum on May 22-29.
The Preliminary Round began on Wednesday with Pool A (the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, India, Iran, Australia) and Pool B (Vietnam, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Hong Kong) competing in respective groups, before heading into a rest and recovery day on Monday, May 27.
The two top teams of each pool will make up the Final Four in the semi-finals on May 28, while the remaining teams will look for their best possible finish with the 5th-8th semi-finals. The least-ranked teams of each pool will face off in the classification match for the 9th-10th places.
The finals are slated for May 29, when the eventual champion earns the right to return to Manila, as it confirms its slot for the Volleyball World Challenger Cup, scheduled for July 4-7, 2024.