A 25-19, 27-25, 25-21 win over Chinese Taipei in the 12,000 capacity Azadi Indoor Stadium had the home crowd buzzing.

The atmosphere will be huge as the hosts now take on South Korea, who ended the unbeaten run of defending champions Japan yesterday, and today reached the last four with a straightforward 3-1 win over India, 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21.

Japan, seeking a third consecutive title, recovered their equilibrium with a 3-1 win over China, 25-23, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22.

The champions next meet Australia, who came from two sets down to win their thrilling quarter-final against Pakistan 21-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-14, 15-13.

Qatar and Kazakhstan will contest ninth place, Qatar having beaten the hosts 3-0, and Kazakhstan having defeated Thailand 3-2.

Thailand and Indonesia play for 11th place.

Sri Lanka and Oman contest 13th place tomorrow after respective 3-0 wins over Kuwait and Hong Kong, who will meet in the 15th place match.

Meanwhile, the line-up for the round-of-16 in the European Men's Volleyball Championships was sorted tonight as the final four preliminary round matches were played.

Spain progressed thanks to a 3-1 win over 2017 silver medallists Germany.

It was the third defeat for Germany in their five Pool B matches, but they squeezed through to earn a meeting with The Netherlands.

Spain will face Poland, who have dominated Pool D.

Ukraine face Belgium, fourth-placers two years ago, in their round-of-16 match.

The Czech Republic sealed their progression with a 3-2 win over Montenegro and will now meet the 2017 bronze medallists, Serbia.

The other three matches see France playing Finland, Italy up against Turkey and defending champions Russia playing Greece.