Iran claim fourth spot at Asian Championship quarterfinals

Iran emerged as the fourth national team to qualify for the 2026 AVC Women's Volleyball Asian Championship elimination rounds on Tuesday in Tianjin, China.

The Iranians completed their pool play schedule with a 3-0 (25-4, 25-7, 25-5) win over Iraq and confirmed their presence in the quarterfinals of the event that will award a spot at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and the three berths at the 2027 FIVB Volleyball World Cup, joining continental powerhouses China, Thailand and Japan, which had qualified in the last two days.

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

With the positive result against the Iraqis, Iran got to two wins and six points in the Pool A standings and are very likely to retain their second place at the end of pool play. Even if they fall to third place, they will still advance, as the three pool winners, the three pool runners-up, and the two best third-placed teams make it to the elimination rounds.

Also competing in Pool A are China (two wins, six points), Chinese Taipei (one win, three points) and Iraq (no wins, no points). China and Chinese Taipei play in the last match of the pool on Wednesday.

Iran counted on a well-balanced offense to beat Iraq, which had outside hitter Fatemeh Khalili scoring 14 points (11 kills, three blocks), middle blocker Reyhane Karimi contributing 13 (nine kills, four aces) and opposite Elaheh Poor Saleh adding 12 (seven kills, three blocks, two aces).

"Qualifying is very important for us, and we're very happy with this victory," Khalili said. "We're excited to be in the top eight, but we want to keep going, and we'll try to show our best performance."

Japan and Thailand win their pools

Already qualified for the quarterfinals, Japan and Thailand secured the top spots in their pools on Tuesday, earning their third victories in pool play. The Japanese swept Vietnam 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-21) and got to nine points in Pool C - Korea and Vietnam have three points each, while Hong Kong have zero.

Young opposite Miku Akimoto led the Japanese offense in the match with 16 points (13 kills, two aces, one block), five more than outside hitter Yoshino Sato, who registered nine kills, one block and one ace.

In Pool B, Thailand also finished undefeated with nine points after taking down Kazakhstan 3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 23-25, 25-11). Entering the last day, Indonesia and Kazakhstan have one win and three points each, while Australia have no wins and no points.

Outside hitter Sasipapron Janthawisut and star opposite Pimpichaya Kokram carried the Thai offense, with each of them producing 20 points.

AVC Women's Volleyball Asian Championship: schedule and results

Pool play comes to an end in Tianjin on Wednesday, when Korea play Hong Kong at 10:00 local time (2:00 UTC) in Pool C, Indonesia meet Australia at 15:00 (7:00 UTC) in Pool B and China face Chinese Taipei at 19:30 (11:30 UTC) in Pool A.

The quarterfinals will be split between Thursday and Friday, with the semifinals taking place on Saturday and the medal matches scheduled for Sunday.

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