Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, July 26, 2010 – All participating teams enjoyed their rest day on Tuesday, as a tense battle is expected when the SMM 18th Asian Women’s U19 Volleyball Championship resumes on Wednesday.

The group round-robin preliminaries ended on Monday. Hosts Thailand led Pool A with six points from two straight wins, followed by Vietnam with three points from one win against one loss. Sri Lanka did not win a match to finish third in the pool.

Title-holders China top Pool B with nine points from three successive victories. Kazakhstan came in second place with six points from two wins against one loss. Hong Kong came in third place in the pool with three points from one win against two losses and New Zealand went down in straight three losses to come in fourth place.

Japan, silver medallists at the previous edition, captured the top spot in Pool C after collecting nine points from three wins in a row. India came in second place with six points from two wins against one loss. Iran had three points from one win against two losses, with winless Macao in fourth position.

Korea made a clean sweep in Pool D, while Chinese Taipei came in second place with six points from two wins against one loss. The Philippines and Australia finished third and fourth places, with the former claiming two points from one win against two losses and the latter being ranked fourth in Pool D without winning a match.

Top two teams from Pool A, B, C and D will now have to compete in round of the last eight teams, with Thailand and Vietnam from Pool A contesting Pool E together with Japan and India from Pool C, while China and Kazakhstan from Pool B and Korea and Chinese Taipei from Pool D will test their mettle in Pool F.

The Pool E and Pool F encounters will be played in the group round-robin format, with the teams already met in the preliminaries not playing in this round. However, results of the preliminary matches contested among them will be taken for team rankings.

As only these eight teams will vie for the top honour as well as the top two teams to contest the next year’s FIVB Women’s U19 World Championship in Mexico, a competitive competition among them is expected from Wednesday till the final day of the tournament on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the teams finishing third and fourth places in each pool will be relegated to the 9th-15th classification round. The format of play is similar to that in the 1st-8th playoffs.

On Wednesday, the 1st-8th playoffs will take place at The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima’s MCC Hall, with Japan taking on Vietnam in the first Pool E match at 11.30am local time. The second match sees defending champions China play Chinese Taipei, with Thailand challenging India and Korea pitted against Kazakhstan.

The 9th-15th classification round will be held at the Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University Gymnasium, with Sri Lanka playing in Pool G against Macao at 2pm local time. The match will be followed by Hong Kong against Australia and Philippines against New Zealand both in Pool H.

1ST-8TH PLAYOFFS

POOL E: 1A-THAILAND; 2A-VIETNAM; 1C-JAPAN; 2C-INDIA

POOL F: 1B-CHINA; 2B-KAZAKHSTAN; 1D-KOREA; 2D-CHINESE TAIPEI

9TH-15TH PLAYOFFS

POOL G: 3A-SRI LANKA; 3C-IRAN; 4C-MACAO

POOL H: 3B-HONG KONG; 4B-NEW ZEALAND; 3D-PHILIPPINES; 4D-AUSTRALIA

MATCH SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016

At MCC Hall

11.30am: Japan v Vietnam

2pm: China v Chinese Taipei

4pm: Thailand v India

6pm: Korea v Kazakhstan

At Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University

2pm: Sri Lanka v Macao

4pm: Hong Kong v Australia

6pm: Philippines v New Zealand