Thailand leads eight teams into women's volleyball quarters

Thailand swept Kyrgyzstan 3-0 in just 52 minutes on Thursday to lead eight teams including Kazakhstan and China into the women's volleyball quarterfinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Wilson Halimah Zampaligre (C) and Yim Wing Ni (R) of China's Hong Kong block during the preliminary round pool D match of Women's Volleyball between China's Hong Kong and Vietnam at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 in Komaki, Japan, Sept. 17, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Fei)

The newly crowned Asian champion overwhelmed Kyrgyzstan 25-13, 25-7, 25-7 for its second straight win in Group C.

Kyrgyzstan struggled to convert its attacks, scoring just 18 kills from 78 attempts. Thailand, by contrast, converted 41 of 69 attacks into kills.

In the other match of Group C, Chinese Taipei swept Mongolia 3-0. Sharing a 2-0 win-loss record, Thailand and Chinese Taipei have both secured top two finishes from Group C and their berths in the quarterfinals.

Middle blocker Tatyana Nikitina had 19 points to lead Kazakhstan to a 27-29, 26-24, 25-23 and 25-19 come-from-behind victory over the Philippines in Group B.

"In the first set, we struggled to connect with each other, but we analyzed the Philippines' game throughout the set and adjusted," Kazakhstan setter Irina Kuznetsova said. "We listened to our coach and tried to do everything he said, and in the second set, we were much more connected on the court."

The 35-year-old made her Asian Games debut in 2010 at Guangzhou, helping Kazakhstan win a bronze medal. Now a mother of two, she is back for another Asian Games campaign.

"It's different, but I feel very confident because I have so much experience. At this Asian Games, I hope for an even better result than in 2010," she said.

Kazakhstan and China, who had beaten the Philippines 3-0 on Wednesday, have both secured quarterfinal berths with the two teams to vie for the top place of Group B on Friday.

In Group D, Vietnam swept Hong Kong, China, 3-0 for a second win in two tries and eliminated the team with one round remaining after its 3-0 loss to South Korea the previous day.

"Even though we lost, we felt good about the match overall. We did pretty well in terms of executing our tactics, and it was much better than yesterday's match," said middle blocker Leung Nga Yee of Hong Kong, China.

In Group D's other action, South Korea beat Qatar 3-0 to join Vietnam in the quarterfinals.

Indonesia and Japan have also booked their tickets to the quarterfinals following Indonesia's 3-0 win over Nepal, who had dropped both its matches in Group A.