The pool stage of the inaugural edition of the AVC Men’s Champions League in Japan was completed on Tuesday and the match-ups for the quarterfinal round were set up. The teams that finished pool winners or pool runners-up are now two wins away from the Asian tickets to the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship and three wins away from the continental club title. In Thursday’s first two quarterfinals, Kazakhstan’s Aqtobe will meet Qatar’s Al-Rayyan and Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds Osaka will face Bahrain’s Al-Muharraq. In the other two duels for the spots in the semifinals, China’s Shanghai Bright will take on Iran’s Foolad Sirjan Iranian and Japan’s Osaka Bluteon will play against Thailand’s Nakhon Ratchasima QminC on Friday.

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Over three competition days at the at the iconic Panasonic Arena in Osaka, 12 teams played two matches each in four round-robin pools of three. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the playoff phase to be staged at the Shimadzu Arena in Kyoto till Sunday, while the third-placed participants were eliminated from further contention.

One of the tournament hosts, Suntory Sunbirds Osaka, inspired by the stellar presence of players like Russia’s Dmitriy Muserskiy, Japan’s Ran Takahashi or Poland’s Aleksander Sliwka, mastered two shutouts in Pool A to top the standings on an impeccable record – 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-18) over Queensland Pirates on Sunday and 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-19) over Aqtobe on Tuesday. In what proved to be a direct duel for the second place in the pool, the Kazakhstani team hammered out a 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-19) sweep of their encounter with the Aussies on Monday.

The situation in Pool B was quite similar. Yuji Nishida and Cuba’s Miguel Lopez spearheaded Japan’s Osaka Bluteon, paving the way to the top of the pool table with two sweeps – 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-21) over Philippines’ Cignal HD Spikers Manila on Sunday and 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-20) over Shanghai Bright on Monday. Led by a duo of prominent former Polish internationals – setter Fabian Drzyzga and outside hitter Michal Kubiak – the Chinese squad stayed in contention by grabbing the pool runners-up position with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-18) shutout of Cignal on Tuesday.

The Pool C opener offered a rollercoaster five-setter between defending Asian champions Foolad Sirjan Iranian of Iran, with two-time Olympic MVP Earvin Ngapeth of France on the squad, and Nakhon Ratchasima QminC of Thailand, which went 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-11) Foolad’s way. Iranian international Amirhossein Esfandiar contributed a match-high 25 points, while Mongolian opposite Khangal Tamiraa led the Thai team with 21 points. On the next two days, both of these teams managed to beat Chinese Taipei’s Taichung Bank Taipei to advance to the playoffs. Nakhon Ratchasima produced a 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 26-28, 25-20) win, while Foolad Sirjan hammered out a 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-13) shutout.

Powered by a trio of top-caliber international players – Netherlands’ Nimir Abdel-Aziz, Slovenia’s Tine Urnaut and Mali’s Noumory Keita – Qatar’s Al-Rayyan showed no mercy for their opponents in Pool D – 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-18) over Bahrain’s Al-Muharraq on Sunday and 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-21) over Vietnam’s Sports Training Center III Da Nang on Tuesday. In between, in Monday’s deciding match for the second place in the pool, Al-Muharraq, fueled by Swedish opposite Jacob Link and outside hitters Maarten van Garderen of the Netherlands and Alexandre Ferreira of Portugal, delivered a 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22) victory over the Vietnamese team.

AVC Men’s Champions League 2025 quarterfinals:
May 15, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Aqtobe (KAZ) v Al-Rayyan (QAT)
May 15, 19:05 local (10:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka (JPN) v Al-Muharraq (BRN)
May 16, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Shanghai Bright (CHN) v Foolad Sirjan Iranian (IRI)
May 16, 19:05 local (10:05 UTC): Osaka Bluteon (JPN) v Nakhon Ratchasima QminC (THA)

AVC Men’s Champions League 2025: schedule, results, statistics and standings

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