Iran and Japan complete semifinal lineup in Fukuoka

Iran will take on Australia and Japan will meet Korea in Saturday’s AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship semifinals. Iran and Japan took the remaining spots among the last four in Fukuoka after their quarterfinal victories over Chinese Taipei and India, respectively, on Friday. Each of the four semifinalists is now one win away from the podium and from qualifying for the 2027 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Cup and two wins away from the Asian title and the continental ticket to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games men’s volleyball event. The tournament is streamed live and on demand on VBTV.

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

In the third quarterfinal in Japan, Iran overcame Chinese Taipei’s resistance after a four-set duel. The western Asian side celebrated a 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18) victory over the easterners to advance to the semis, spearheaded by 22-year-old outside hitter Porya Khanzadeh with a match-high 24 points, registering a 67% success rate in attack and two kill blocks. Starting opposite Ali Hajipour (Haji), sub-in opposite and captain Amin Esmaeilnezhad and the other outside, Morteza Sharifi, who put away two aces and two kill blocks, chipped in with 12 points apiece. Outside Chang Yu-Chen was Chinese Taipei’s most prolific scorer with 18 points. His cross-court teammate Wen Yi-Kai added another 14, while opposite and captain Chang Yu-Sheng finished with 11.

Japan delighted the six and a half thousand fans in the stands of the Kitakyushu City Gymnasium with an emphatic 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19) shutout of India in the last quarterfinal. Outside hitter Ran Takahashi fired four aces and raised a kill block towards a match-high 14 points. His cross-court teammate and captain Yuki Ishikawa spiked at a 65% success rate and produced an ace to finish with 12 points, matching the tally of opposite Yuji Nishida, who had 11 successful swings and a kill block under his belt. Japanese middle blocker Larry Ik Evbade-Dan impressed with four stuffs. Opposite and captain Jerome Vinith Charles was India’s usual leading scorer, this time with 11 points.

In Saturday’s semifinals, Iran and Australia will hit the court at 15:30 local time (06:30 UTC), and Korea will challenge hosts Japan at 19:30 (10:30). The two match winners will book their tickets to World Cup 2027.

AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship: schedule and results

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