After a day of rest, tomorrow the Asian Championship continues with the matches of the second stage of the competition. The top eight teams, as defined after the preliminary round, will cross over and meet in Group E and Group F to determine candidates for the semifinals on Saturday, September 18th. The remaining teams will be divided into Group G and Group H which will determine the teams for the 9th to 16th place matches.
September 16, 2021
Pool E
Qatar – Australia
Japan – China
Pool F
Pakistan – Chinese Taipei
Iran – Korea
Pool G
India – Kuwait
Bahrain – Uzbekistan
Pool H
Thailand – Kazakhstan
Hong Kong – Saudi Arabia
16 national teams were divided into 4 groups. Hosts Japan, India, Qatar and Bahrain were in Pool A, current Asian champions Iran, Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong China in Pool B, Pool C consisted of Australia, China, Uzbekistan and Kuwait, while in Pool D were Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.
Pool A: Japan, India, Qatar, Bahrain
Pool B: Iran, Pakistan, Thailand, Hong Kong China
Pool C: Australia, China, Uzbekistan, Kuwait
Pool D: Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia
In the 21st edition in Japan, the teams pleyed in a single round-robin format during the preliminary round. The two best teams from each group advanced to the top 8 teams which are divided into group E (A, C) and group F (B, D) to play again in a single round-robin format with transferred results and points from the matches between teams from the same groups that had already played during the preliminary round.The two best teams from Pool E and Pool F will advance to the semifinals, while the other 4 teams will remain in competition from 5th to 8th place. The same game format will be applied to the remaining 8 lower-ranked teams.
The Continental Championship is also a qualifying tournament for the World Championship in Russia next year. Two first-placed teams from the continental tournament will qualify for the World Championship. The two best teams from five Continental Championships will secure a place at the 2022 World Championship. The remaining 12 places will go to the top 12 teams according to the FIVB World Rankings for teams that have not yet qualified, while the host country Russia and current world champions Poland automatically qualified for the competition.
