Vietnam lost 0-3 to host Myanmar in the opening Pool A matchat the 2016 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship that began yesterday in Nay Pyi Taw City.

Vietnam’s Maseco HCM Citylose their first game at the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship inMyanmar on August 23.

Vietnam, represented by Maseco HCM City club, could notresist the strong volleys of the host and lost all three sets 25-17, 25-20,25-21.

They will next play Nebitchi club from Turkmenistan.

In the Pool C action yesterday, Al Arabi Sports Club ofQatar beat Wing 46 Toyota Phitsanulok from Thailand 25-10, 25-10, 25-12.

Fifteen teams are competing in the championship.

Meanwhile, Pool B has Indonesia’s Surabaya Samator, Japan’sToyoda Gosei Trefuerza, Iraq’s Gas Aljanoob and Chinese Taipei’s Taiwan Power.

Pool C consists of the United Arab Emirates’ Al Jazira, AlArabi Sports Club, Wing 46 Toyota-Phitsanulok and Shanghai Golden Age from theChinese mainland, while Pool D has Malaysia, Iran’s Bank Sarmayeh, Kazakhstan’sAltay VC and Lo Kon Ting Volleyball Association from Hong Kong.

The three-day pool preliminaries will end tomorrow.

Friday will be a rest day, and intense competition willresume on Saturday and run through August 31, with the teams competing in thequarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals.

The two teams from each pool that top the preliminary roundwill advance to the quarter-finals in Pools E and Pool F, while the teamsfinishing third and fourth in each pool will be relegated to the ninth to 16thclassification round.

The finals will be held on August 31. The awardspresentation and closing ceremony will take place shortly after the finalshowdown.

The winners of the prestigious tournament will representAsia at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship at Belo Horizonte andBetim in Brazil.

VNS