Bahrain’s win not enough, India on to Asian Champs quarterfinals

With the end of the pool phase of the AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship on Wednesday, the quarterfinal match-ups in Fukuoka were finalized. Thailand will take on Australia, and Iran will meet Chinese Taipei on Thursday, while Korea will face China, and India will challenge hosts Japan on Friday. The tournament in Fukuoka serves as a qualification event for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and for the 2027 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Cup and is streamed live and on demand on VBTV.

• Watch the AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship on VBTV

The last available quarterfinal vacancy went to India as the second best third-placed team in the pools. In Wednesday’s opening game, Bahrain hammered out a 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-23) shutout of Oman, which was enough to catch up with India on wins, points and set ratios, but not on point ratios. So, despite finishing third in Pool A, the Bahrainis will have to leave the competition. Outside hitters Sayed Hashem Ali of Bahrain and Fallah Saleem Al-Aabed Mubarak Al Jaradi of Oman shared the top scorer honors of the match with 13 points each. Bahrain’s middle blocker Hasan Haider Mohamed impressed with seven kill blocks towards an 11-point total, while opposite Abdulla Ebrahim Moh"D added another 10 points. Oman’s opposite Majid Abdallah Ali Al-Shibli also reached the double digits with 11 points.

In Pool C, Thailand survived a five-set duel with Chinese Taipei to top the final pool standings unbeaten on a 3-0 win-loss record and 7 points, leaving Korea in second on 2-1 and 7, and Chinese Taipei in third on 1-2 and 4, as all three teams advanced to the quarterfinals. Opposite Napadet Bhinijdee and outside Chaiwat Thungkham put away 28 and 26 points, respectively, towards a 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-10) Thai success. As many as five of Chinese Taipei’s players scored in the double digits, led by opposite and captain Chang Yu-Sheng with 20 points. Outside Wen Yi-Kai with 18, middle blockers Lu Chiang Yao-Kai and Tsai Pei-Chang with 14 apiece, and outside Li Yuan with 11 points were the other four.

The deciding battle between two undefeated teams for the top of Pool B standings went 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23) the way of Iran against China. It was a very even battle, in which the team that made fewer unforced errors won the victory. 22-year-old outside hitter Poriya Khanzadeh led the winners with a match-high 20 points, including two kill blocks and an ace. His cross-court teammate Morteza Sharifi chipped in with 17 points. Four Chinese players reached the double digits in scoring: outside Wang Bin with 18, sub-in opposite Jiang Chuan with 14, first opposite Wen Zihua with 13, and outside Zhang Jingyin with 12.

Thursday’s program at the Asian Championship will offer the first two of the four quarterfinals: Thailand against Australia at 15:30 local time (06:30 UTC), and Iran against Chinese Taipei at 19:30 (10:30).

AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship: schedule and results

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