Indonesia triumph in Ahmedabad for first-ever AVC Cup honors

Indonesia triumphed as winners of the 2026 AVC Men’s Volleyball Cup, claiming not only their first gold in the history of the competition, but also their first medal of any color. As the sixth edition of the continental competition, held at the Veer Savarkar sports complex in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad (also known as Amdavad), concluded on Sunday, Korea finished runners-up and claimed their first silver, after the bronze medals in 2023 and 2024, while India pleased the home fans with bronze and made the AVC Cup podium for the first time.

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Indonesia took part in the competition for the fourth consecutive time. After losing their opening match to Korea in straight sets, they went on to beat Qatar, Thailand and Oman to finish Pool B runners-up and qualify for the semifinals. On Saturday, the Indonesians played their third five-setter of the tournament and registered their third tie-breaker win, 3-2 (15-25, 26-24, 25-20, 19-25, 15-13) over undefeated Pool A winners India, with a match-high 26 points from 22-year-old outside hitter Boy Arnez Arabi. Facing Korea again in the gold medal showdown on Sunday, Indonesia persevered through an epic first set and went on to take their revenge in straight sets, 3-0 (34-32, 25-16, 25-23), and celebrate a historic success. Boy was once again the best scorer of the match, with 17 points, including four aces.

With the FIVB World Ranking points collected during this tournament, Indonesia jumped nine positions up the chart -  from number 52 to number 43.

Korea brought home the historic silver after winning four of their six matches in Ahmedabad and losing only their opening game to Thailand and the final to Indonesia. In Saturday’s semifinals, they dethroned defending champions Bahrain with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20) victory, with opposite Hojin Shin leading the way with a match-high 26 points, including three aces and three kill blocks.

Earlier on Sunday, in the bronze medal match, India delighted about 2,500 home fans in the stands with a 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17) win over Bahrain to rejoice with the historic medal and leave last year’s winners off the podium. Opposite and captain Jerome Vinith Charles contributed a match-high 24 points to India’s victory.

Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Qatar, Chinese Taipei, Oman, New Zealand and Australia, in that order, lined up in the places from fourth to 11th in the final standings.

Indonesia’s Boy Arnez Arabi was granted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors and made the Dream Team, also composed of setter Alfin Daniel Pratama (Indonesia), opposite Hojin Shin (Korea), outside hitter Hanyong Jeong (Korea), middle blockers Hendra Kurniawan (Indonesia) and Changseong Park (Korea), and libero Anand Kottarathil (India). Kazakhstan’s Vladislav Mastikhin topped the best scorers chart of the tournament with a total of 126 points.

2026 AVC Men’s Volleyball Cup: all results

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