Manama, Bahrain, June 19, 2025 – The race for the coveted title at the inaugural AVC Men’s Nations Cup intensified on Thursday as the pool round-robin preliminaries concluded at Isa bin Rashid Hall, with all eight quarterfinal spots now confirmed.
Hosts Bahrain, alongside Korea and Qatar, capped off the preliminaries with dominant straight-set wins, while Pakistan survived a dramatic five-set thriller against Chinese Taipei. Despite the losses in their last preliminary matches on Thursday, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia also qualified for quarterfinals.
Earlier, Thailand, the Philippines, and New Zealand, each suffering two successive defeats, were relegated to the classification round for 9th–11th places.
In Pool B, Kazakhstan’s withdrawal from the tournament due to unforeseen circumstances left Qatar and Australia as automatic quarterfinalists.
Qatar, reigning AVC Challenge Cup champions, demonstrated their class with a solid 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22) victory over Australia.
Raimi Wadidie led Qatar with 14 points from 12 attacks and two blocks, while captain Ibrahim Mohamed and Youssef Oughlaf chipped in with 10 and 9 points respectively.
Australia’s Sam Flowerday scored a team-high 13 points, with Lorenzo Pope contributing 11. Qatar led in blocking (8–4) and capitalized on Australian errors (28–20), despite trailing slightly in attacking points (38–40).
The win saw Qatar climb to No.23 in the FIVB World Rankings with 157.43 points, while Australia slipped to No.35.
In Pool D, Korea, fresh from a 3-0 win over New Zealand in their opener, followed up with another commanding 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-12) victory against Vietnam.
Opposite Im Donghyeok led the scoring with 12 points, supported by outside hitters Heo Subong and Kim Jihan with 11 each. Nguyen Van Quoc Duy posted 15 points for Vietnam in a losing effort.
Korea’s dominance was reflected in key stats: attacks (42–40), blocks (10–2), and opponent errors (20–12), with both sides tied in serving. Korea’s world ranking remained No.25, while Vietnam dropped to No.56.
Bahrain continued their unbeaten run in Pool A, following their historic win over Thailand with a convincing 3-0 (25-13, 27-25, 25-22) victory against defending SEA Games champions Indonesia.
Opposite Ali Ebrahim Khamis and Mohamed Abdulla Yaqoob each scored 14 points for Bahrain, while captain Naser Anan added 13.
Bahrain’s defense kept Indonesia’s top scorers in check, with no player reaching double digits. Middle blocker Tedi Oka Syahputra led the Indonesians with 9 points.
Bahrain’s triumph earned them 8.06 points, propelling them six places up to world No.56, while Indonesia dropped to No.57.
The highlight of the day unfolded in Pool C as Pakistan edged Chinese Taipei in a pulsating five-set showdown, 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 16-25, 18-16).
Murad Khan led Pakistan with 19 points, supported by Murad Jehan (15), Musawer Khan (13), and Usman Faryad Ali (10). Chinese Taipei’s Chang Yu-Sheng was outstanding with a match-high 36 points, with Wen Ki-Kai adding 19.
As Pakistan dominated in blocks (14–4), Chinese Taipei excelled in attack (72–62), aces (5–4), and opponent errors (27–25).
Pakistan’s hard-fought win moved them up to No.44 in the world, while Chinese Taipei slipped to No.46.
POOL STANDINGS
• Pool A: 1. Bahrain (6 pts), 2. Indonesia (2 pts), 3. Thailand (1 pt)
• Pool B: 1. Qatar (3 pts), 2. Australia (0 pts)
• Pool C: 1. Pakistan (5 pts), 2. Chinese Taipei (4 pts), 3. Philippines (0 pts)
• Pool D: 1. Korea (6 pts), 2. Vietnam (3 pts), 3. New Zealand (0 pts)
Friday, June 20, is scheduled as a rest day, except for one classification match as Thailand face the Philippines in the 9th–11th playoff at 19:00 local time.
Watch live matches through Volleyball World YouTube
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https://asianvolleyball.net/new/2025-avc-mens-volleyball-nations-cup/
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