India face Tunisia in Under-21 World Volleyball opener

India is drawn in Pool A, along with the United States, Tunisia and Belarus in the 2009 FIVB men's under-21 Volleyball World Championship, being organized and managed by the United Western Sports Foundation, Pune, under the aegis of the Volleyball Federation of India at Balewadi from July 31 to August 9.

The official 'Drawing of Lots' ceremony, along with the grand launch of the tournament logo was held in Mumbai on Wednesday.

India, currently ranked tenth in the FIVB Junior and Youth World ranking as on April 16, 2009, meet Tunisia in their opening match on July 31. They should fancy their chances of advancing to the second round as one of the top two teams from their pool provided they beat Tunisia, ranked two places above them at eighth position.

The United States is ranked seventh, while Belarus is a lowly 39.

Pool D should see intense competition in the first round, with defending champions Brazil and the last edition's runner-up Russia facing off in the opener. The other two teams in the pool are Canada and Poland, who seem destined to occupy the bottom two slots.

Top-ranked Iran, last edition's third placed finisher, also find themselves in a relatively easy Pool C, along with China, Egypt and Belgium.

China, currently ranked sixth, failed to make an impact in the last edition, and Egypt, ranked ninth, finished tenth in 2007.

Another top contenders Argentina, currently ranked second, share Pool B with Cuba, France and Greece and will open their campaign against Cuba on July 31.

The teams in the fray: India (host nation), Tunisia and Egypt from CAVB (African Confederation), Iran and China from AVC (Asian Confederation), France, Belgium, Russia, Greece, Poland and Belarus from CEV (European Confederation), Cuba, Canada and USA from Norceca (North and Central American Confederation), Brazil and Argentina from CSV (South American Confederation)

Pool A: India, USA, Tunisia, Belarus

Pool B: Iran, China, Egypt, Belgium

Pool C: Argentina, France, Cuba, Greece

Pool D: Brazil, Russia, Canada, Poland

The eight seeded teams: Iran (FIVB Rank 1); Argentina (FIVB Rank 2); Brazil (FIVB Rank 3); Russia (FIVB Rank 4); France (FIVB Rank 5); China (FIVB Rank 6); USA (FIVB Rank 7) and India (Host Nation and FIVB Rank 10).