With the home-court advantage on their side, India head the Pool A line-up, targeting their first podium in the history of the competition. They will open their campaign on Saturday with a match against New Zealand. The pool also features defending champions and two-time medalists Bahrain, the world’s number 37 Australia – the highest ranked team in the pool, as well as Chinese Taipei and 2024 semifinalists Kazakhstan.
The tournament will serve off on Saturday at 12:00 local time (06:30 UTC) with a Pool B game between Qatar and Oman. Number 22 in the World Ranking Qatar are the highest ranked participant in the AVC Cup. They made the podium at both of their previous appearances in the competition, with gold in 2024 and bronze last year, while Oman are AVC Cup debutants. 2023 gold medalists Thailand will get their participation started with a match against Korea, who made the semifinals at each of their three appearances, from 2023 to 2025, and picked up two bronzes. Indonesia is also in this pool.
The pool stage of the AVC Men’s Cup will take place from Saturday, June 20, to Friday, June 26, with a rest day on June 24. Each competition day will offer the fans four matches on the program, with the exception of Sunday, June 21, when as many as five games will be played in Ahmedabad.
After a total of 25 pool games played, the two pool winners will take on the runners-up of the other pools in crossed semifinals on June 27, thus determining the teams to play in the bronze medal and the gold medal matches on June 28. Also on June 27, the two fifth-placed teams from the pools will contest the ninth place. Similarly, on June 28, the two fourth-placed teams will lock horns for the seventh place, while the two third-placed teams will battle it out for the fifth place in the final standings.
