China advances to men's volleyball semifinal with win over Thailand

China swept Thailand 3-0 in the men's volleyball quarterfinal at the 2026 Asian Games on Thursday, setting up a semifinal showdown with Japan.

With little separating the two sides in the opening set, China maintained a narrow lead for much of the contest before closing it out 25-23.

China used its blocking advantage to race to a 4-0 lead at the start of the second set. Thailand responded with two scoring runs midway through the set to close the gap before China increased its serving pressure.

The teams traded points from 17-17 to 22-22 before China took the final three points to win the set 25-22.

China stepped up the tempo of its attack in the third set and gradually pulled away to seal the match with a 25-19 victory.

China recorded 34 attack points and 17 blocks, compared with Thailand's 36 attack points and 11 blocks. China's Wang Bin scored 15 points, while Napadet Bhinijdee led Thailand with 16.

China head coach Vital Heynen said he was satisfied with his team's performance, particularly after several players had struggled with injuries in recent days.

"This was match number four in five days. It's not easy to come back here. It costs so much energy," Heynen said.

"If you win the close sets, you win the match, and there were two close sets in the beginning and we won, so you know that the chances are big," he added.

Later Thursday, Japan defeated Qatar 3-0 to set up Friday's semifinal against China.

Japan head coach Laurent Tillie said he expected a much tougher contest in the semifinal.

"We know Qatar can play very good, so we had to stay focused. At the end, it was an easy win, so very good," Tillie said. "But we know tomorrow it will be a much more difficult match."

In the other quarterfinals, Pakistan beat India 3-0, while Iran edged South Korea 3-2.