Japan started their Pool A campaign by beating Qatar 25-20, 25-23, 25-21, before dropping a first set of the tournament in their second match when defeating Bahrain 23-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-16.

The hosts concluded their pool phase unbeaten by beating India 25-15, 25-15, 25-18, finishing top on nine points.

Qatar finished in second place in the pool with six points following two wins, both in straight sets, against India and Bahrain.

In Pool B, holders Iran went undefeated and progressed without dropping a set in any of their three matches.

Iran began with a 25-12, 25-18, 25-19 win over Hong Kong, defeated Thailand 25-17, 25-12, 25-18 and finished with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 victory against Pakistan.

Pakistan finished in second place in the pool on six points after victories over Thailand in five sets and Hong Kong in four.

In Pool C, Australia emerged as winners after running out victorious in all three games, although they were forced to dig deep in their final match - coming from two sets down to beat China 25-27, 20-25, 25-21, 28-26, 15-12 in a pool decider.

Earlier in the pool phase Australia ran out straight-sets winners against Uzbekistan 25-16, 25-19, 25-19 and Kuwait 25-21, 25-14, 25-9.

China finished second in the pool with two wins - straight-sets victories over Kuwait and Uzbekistan.

In Pool D, Chinese Taipei were victorious with an unbeaten record, negotiating their first two matches against Kazakhstan 25-20, 25-22, 25-19 and Saudi Arabia 25-15, 25-16, 25-17.

Chinese Taipei were extended in their final pool-phase match, as they came from behind to defeat South Korea 23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21 and seal top spot.

South Korea finished second in the pool following straight-sets triumphs against Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan.

The semi-finalists were decided following the classification round, with teams carrying through points and results from the preliminary round against opponents in their pool.

China finished second in Pool E after beating Japan 25-19, 27-29, 25-21, 25-19 and overcoming Qatar 28-26, 21-25, 26-28, 25-19, 15-10.

Japan topped the pool on points difference after their 25-23, 25-17, 25-23 win over Australia in the classification round was added to their win against Qatar in the preliminary round.

In Pool F, Iran went undefeated in the classification round overcoming South Korea 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 and Chinese Taipei 25-10, 25-23, 25-11, to add to their victory over Pakistan.

The semi-finals are due to take place tomorrow, with Japan facing Chinese Taipei and China taking on Iran.