Volleyball
AVC Men's Volleyball C'ship 2026: India reach the quarterfinals after 7 years
India finishes in 8th position after the group stage and takes the final qualifying spot for the quarterfinals.
India advanced to the quarterfinals of the AVC Asian Championship 2026. (Photo Credits: AVC)
The Indian men’s volleyball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2026 AVC Men’s Volleyball Championship in Fukuoka, Japan, on Wednesday.
Following Bahrain’s win over Oman in the final Pool A match, India secured qualification for the last eight as the eighth-best team from the pool stage.
India had already finished their pool stage campaign with three points after a straight-sets victory over New Zealand on Tuesday but was waiting for other results to go in their favour.
And hence, despite earlier losses to China and Iran, the win against New Zealand proved sufficient to edge past Bahrain for eighth place on set-point ratio.
This will be India’s first quarterfinal appearance in seven years since 2019, when they finished eighth. The team has not reached the semi-finals in 21 years.
However, a tougher challenge awaits as they will face the top-seeded team from the pool stage in their quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.
Japan currently leads the standings with 9 points, but one match remains between China and Iran (both on 6 points), which will determine the final rankings at the top of the table.