First introduced in the 2023-2024 season of the Professional Volleyball V-League, the Asia Quota will be expanded next season after being deemed a “half success”. Salaries have increased slightly and the number of countries eligible for the program has expanded from 10 to 64.
The AsiaQuarter tryouts for the 2024-2025 season will be held next week in Jeju Island, South Korea. The women’s tryouts will take place from April 29 to May 1 at Halla Gymnasium and Sun Hotel on Jeju Island, 스포츠토토사이트 followed by three days of men’s tryouts.
On the women’s side, six players have signed up for the tryouts, including Megawati Putiwi (Indonesia), who played as Jung Kwanjang’s ace last season. Only Reina Tokoku (Japan), who plays for Heungkuk Life, is out. In men’s volleyball, where few players have established themselves as starters, five players are returning for their second year in the V-League, including successful KEPCO libero Ryohei Iga (JPN) and OK Financial Group middle blocker Bayarsaihan Bassu (Mongolia), as well as Jargalchukt Enghereden (real name Eddie-Mongolia), Liu Hongmin and Tsai Fei-Chang (Taiwan). They will be joined by 30 new players awaiting selection to the V-League.
In men’s volleyball, new applicants include Middle Eastern powerhouse Iran, as well as China and Australia. In women’s volleyball, the focus is on Asian powerhouse China. In men’s volleyball, which was criticized for not having much immediate power last season, expectations have grown as “there are many good players as we expand the target countries.” Iranian players have been particularly prominent, with outside hitters Deng Xinfeng (China) and Amirhassan Fahadi (Iran), both over 2 meters tall, scoring well in preliminary evaluations. In addition to the two, Iranian players such as apogee spikers Saeed Ranjiba, Alf Moradi and Ali Tabari are expected to be strong. “Middle Eastern players have good skills, but we will also have to consider their personalities and religious affiliations,” said a club official. Woori Card, which signed Mauricio Paes, a former Iranian national team coach, as its new head coach, is expected to have an advantage.
In women’s volleyball, on the other hand, the mood is “not much different from last year”. Zhang Yue, a 196-centimeter Chinese middle blocker, was the overwhelming favorite in the pre-preference poll.
Women’s volleyball, which has benefited from the power boost, has raised the salaries of women’s players selected at tryouts to $120,000 for the first year and $150,000 for the second year. The men’s program maintained the $100,000 salary for the first year and slightly increased it to $120,000 for the second year.