TEHRAN - The drawing of lots for the 2023 Central Asian Volleyball Association Boys and Girls U16 Volleyball Championships was conducted online by the CAVA Events and Referee Committee on Wednesday.

The inaugural edition of the Championships will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan between July 14 and 20, 2023, with nine teams comprising five men’s and four women’s teams joining the fray, asianvolleyball.net reported.

According to the results of the drawing of lots, the men’s event features hosts Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, while the women’s competition consists of Uzbekistan 1, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan 2.

In both categories, participating teams will play single round-robin format, with top two teams advancing to the final showdown and teams finishing third and fourth places fighting it out in the third-place playoff clash for bronze medal.

Hosting an event is no small task and requires planning and coordination. However, since Tashkent is hosting the first Asian Men’s U16 Volleyball Championship from July 22 and 29, to host the first edition of the CAVA Boys and Girls U16 Volleyball Championships allows the capital city of Uzbekistan hosting experience to handle organizing the Asian Championship effectively and efficiently.

However, ahead of the aforementioned CAVA Championships, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are likely to strut their stuff in the first Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship between July 1 and 8 in Hangzhou, China.

Top three teams apiece from the Asian Men’s and Women’s U16 Championships will make the cut for the next year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s and Women’s U17 World Championships.