Qatar players celebrate a point against Vietnam.
Doha, Qatar: Defending champions Qatar fought back from a set down to defeat Vietnam 3-2 and book their place in the semi-finals of the 2025 AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup at Isa Bin Rashid Hall in Manama, Bahrain, yesterday.
Qatar, the tournament’s top seeds who had topped their group with a win over Australia, were stunned by Vietnam 31-29 in an absorbing first set before bouncing back to level the match with a 25-21 win in the second set.
The Camilo Soto-coached side then claimed the third set 25-15 with relative ease, but Vietnam forced a decider by taking the fourth set 25-22.
The title holders held their nerve in the final set, winning it 15-12 to keep their title defence alive.
Youssef Oughlaf and Renan Ribeiro produced outstanding performances for Qatar, scoring 22 and 21 points respectively.
Qatar will now face Pakistan in tomorrow’s semi-final – a rematch of last year’s final, where Qatar emerged victorious to clinch the title.
Pakistan, who also topped their group, continued their impressive form by defeating Indonesia 3-1 in their quarter-final. After losing the opening set 20-25, Pakistan bounced back strongly to seal the win by taking the next three sets 25-21, 25-20 and 25-17.
Tomorrow’s other semi-final will see hosts Bahrain take on South Korea. The home side eased past Chinese Taipei with a 3-0 victory, posting set scores of 25-18, 25-22 and 35-33. South Korea secured their semi-final spot after a 3-1 win over Australia, with set scores of 25-23, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-23.
Today, the classification matches for the fifth to eighth positions will take place, with Chinese Taipei facing Australia and Indonesia meeting Vietnam. The final of the tournament, which offers world ranking points, will be held on Tuesday.
