Five sets were necessary to determine the winner of the first semi-final at Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium as Iran, the Asian champions, edged past South Korea 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13.

Blocking tactics were decisive for Iran, for whom Ali Shafiei and Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi top-scored with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

South Korea’s Kwang-In Jeon scored a match high of 25 points, followed by team mate Chul-Woo Park with 22.

In the second semi-final, China earned a 25-22, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20 victory over Qatar.

Chuan Jiang once again top-scored for China with 23 points, while Renan Ribeiro was Qatar's highest scorer on 13 points.

Hosts Thailand are one step from the Tokyo 2020 women's volleyball tournament, after beating Kazakhstan 3-1 in the semi-final of the AVC qualifiers at Korat Chatchai Hall in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Pimpichaya Kokram was top scorer for the home side with 29 points, as they secured a 25-21, 25-20, 24-26, 25-21 result.

Kazakhstan's top scorer was Sana Anarkulova, who scored 16.

Thailand’s opponents in tomorrow's final are South Korea, who came back from one set down to beat Chinese Taipei 18-25, 25-9, 25-15, 25-14.

South Korea head coach Stefano Lavarini said: "In the first set we had a little bit of pressure and worried about the semi-finals because it was an important match.

"When we started what we had planned to do, we became better and better."

Kim Heejin scored 18 points for Korea, who played throughout without their star player and captain Kim Yeon Koung.

Chang Li-Wen was Chinese Taipei's top scorer on 14.

As with the men's event, only the tournament winners will qualify for Tokyo 2020.