AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental 2026

Seven of eight quarterfinalists in Fukuoka already known

Watch the AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship, an Olympic and a World Cup qualifier, live on VBTV

Published 11:05, 07 Sept 2026

Thailand celebrate against Korea

Australia and China shut out Oman and New Zealand, respectively, on Monday and booked the first quarterfinal spots at the AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship, pulling Japan and Iran along in Pools A and B. Pool C remained more tied after Thailand’s five-set win over Korea, but both of these teams, along with third-placed Chinese Taipei, are also sure to compete for the berths in the semifinals. The tournament 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

In Monday’s opening game, Australia mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-22) shutout of Oman to top the current standings in Pool A on a perfect record of two wins without a set lost. This way, they secured quarterfinal spots both for themselves and for hosts Japan, who are second in the table, also undefeated. The two teams will have to settle the first place in the pool in a direct battle, while winless Oman and Bahrain will battle it out for the third place. Australian outside hitter Lorenzo Pope led the way with a match-high 16 points, including three kill blocks and an ace. He registered a 60% success rate in attack. Also at 60% in attack, opposite Lincoln Alexander Williams fired three of the team’s six aces to finish with a 12-point total. Outside Fallah Saleem Al-Aabed Mubarak Al Jaradi and opposite Majid Abdallah Ali Al-Shibli were Oman’s most prolific players of the match with 11 points apiece.

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Then, China followed suit with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-18) win over New Zealand, their second in Pool B, with which they propelled themselves and Iran into the quarterfinals with two straight-set victories each, leaving the winless Kiwis and India to lock horns for the third place in the pool and potential passage to the last eight of the tournament. Outside hitter Zhang Jingyin played only in the first two sets of the match, but emerged as China’s most prolific scorer with 11 points, signing off with one ace, one block and a 64% success rate in offense. His New Zealand counterpart Mana Placid was the top scorer of the game with four kill blocks, three aces and eight successful swings towards a 15-point match high.

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The first five-setter of the Asian Championship unfolded in the last match of the day. In a Pool C fixture, Korea came back from two sets down, but stopped short of a reverse sweep against Thailand, who celebrated a 3-2 (25-18, 25-16, 20-25, 22-25, 15-12) victory to top the pool table on a 2-0 win-loss record and 5 points, leaving Korea in second place on 1-1 and 4. With Chinese Taipei in third on 1-1 and 3, all three of these teams are now sure to play in the quarterfinals, as the third-placed team in the final standings is certain to have a better record than the third-placed team in Pool B. Thailand’s opposite Napadet Bhinijdee and Korea’s outside hitter and opposite Heo Subong shared the top scorer honors with 25 points (23 spike kills and two aces) each. Outsides Chaiwat Thungkham and Thanat Bamrungphakdi, and middle blocker Toopadit Phraput added 20, 13 and 11 points for Thailand, while opposite Donghyeok Im also reached the double digits with 14 points.

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The Asian Championship continues on Tuesday, September 8, with India against New Zealand in Pool B at 10:00 local time (01:00 UTC), Qatar against Korea in Pool C at 13:30 (04:30), and Japan against Australia in Pool A at 19:30 (10:30).