Bangabandhu Asian Central Zone Men's Under 23 Volleyball Championship is all set to get underway on Thursday at the Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur with hosts Bangladesh taking on Nepal as the men in red and green keep their sights on the title in a bid to continue their international success.
 
The four-nation tournament will see the hosts battle it out with Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan and Nepal in a round-robin system and without the prospect of elimination, two semifinals will take place based on the teams' standing. The grand finale will be held on December 26.
 
Bangladesh captain Al Amin said he wanted to maintain the impressive results at the international level.
 
"We want to become champions in the tournament to keep the consistency of producing good results at the international level," the skipper told The Daily Star on Wednesday after their final training session ahead of Thursday's match against Nepal.
 
Bangladesh coach Alipour Aroji started preparations in early October and went to Iran for a month-long training camp where they also played nine practice matches against different clubs.
 
Nine u-23 players were part of the senior national team which played in the ABC Challenge Cup in Pakistan while seven players from the U-20 team joined this squad to boost its strength.
 
"I think Sri Lanka will be our main rivals in the championship even though we beat them in Pakistan. So we are hopeful to finish top in the round-robin matches and progress to the semifinals and then the final," said Al Amin. 
 
The men in red and green have received massive support in home tournaments which took place at the Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium and Al Amin expects to have the home crowd cheer them on going into the contest against Nepal. 
 
"Playing at home is an advantage for us because we will play in a familiar environment and the home crowd always has given us good support from the gallery," Al Amin said.