TEHRAN – Iran defeated China in straight sets (31-29, 25-17, 25-23) at the 2023 Asian Men’s U16 Volleyball Championship on Sunday.

Iran, who had defeated Japan 3-2 in their opening Pool C match on Saturday, will meet Saudi Arabia on Monday.

The eight-day tournament has been split into four pools – Pools A, B, C and D. Hosts Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Hong Kong China are in Pool A, while Pool B consists of Thailand and Australia (Bahrain and India withdrew). Saudi Arabia joined Iran, China and Japan in Pool C, with Pool D featuring Pakistan, Mongolia and Chinese Taipei.

Teams will play pool round-robin preliminaries.

Top three teams at the end of the championship will secure their berths in the next year’s inaugural FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship.