Qatar spikers beat Australia ahead of AVC Nations Cup quarter-finals
Doha
Defending champions Qatar warmed up with a 3-0 win over Australia in their 'opening' match of the AVC Men's Volleyball Nations Cup in Manama, Bahrain, on Thursday.
Qatar won the three sets against Australia 25-22, 25-21 and 25-22 to top Group B. Raimi (13) and Ibrahim (10) stood out for Al Annabi while Flowerday (10) and Pope (3) excelled for Australia.
In the quarter-finals, to be played on June 21, Qatar will meet Vietnam while Australia will face South Korea.
Standing at number 24 in the FIVB World Ranking, Qatar are also the highest ranked team among all AVC Nations Cup participants. The Aussies are ranked 33rd.
Qatar's scheduled opening match in the tournament was to be against Kazakhstan but it cancelled following the latter's official withdrawal. Qatar decided to maintain the pre-set preparation schedule to avoid any disruption to the team's rhythm or mental focus.
Both Qatar and Australia had already advanced automatically to the quarter-finals due to Kazakhstan's withdrawal, making the showdown between the two a decisive step toward the title.
The knockout stage is set to begin on June 21, followed by the semi-finals on June 23, and the final on June 24, all taking place at Isa bin Rashid Hall in Riffa.
This year's tournament features three groups, with most groups comprising three teams each following Kazakhstan's withdrawal, reducing the total number of participating teams to 11. The top two teams from each group will advance to the single-elimination quarterfinals.
Team Qatar enters the tournament as the reigning champions, having won the 2024 edition—also held in Bahrain—when the event was known as the Asian Challenge Cup, following a well-deserved victory over Pakistan in the final. Now, the team is looking to build on that triumph and pursue back-to-back continental titles.
The newly rebranded competition, previously known as the AVC Men's Challenge Cup, is an annual continental tournament. In light of recent reforms in the Volleyball Nations League, the AVC Men's Nations Cup now assumes a crucial role. It provides national teams not currently participating in the VNL the chance to gain FIVB Volleyball World Ranking points and potentially secure entry into the top-tier global competition.
Moreover, the tournament champions will earn a berth at the 2026 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship, a key qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and one of the routes to the 2027 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship.
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