Maintaining a clean slate, India thrashed Tailand 3-1 to storm into the quarter-finals of the 12th Asian men's Volleyball Championship at Tianjin on Sunday.
With their confidence on a high following their upset victory over holders South Korea in the opener, the Indian spikers looked relaxed as they recorded a 25-19, 28-18, 22-25, 25-17 victory, their third consecutive win, to top Group B.
They now take on Japan, who finished second in Group D.
The Indians had the match in control from the start as they wound off the first two games with relative ease.
However, when it seemed all lost for the South East Asian nation, the Thailand players came up with a spirited performance to take the third. But the Indians ensured that there were no last minute blues as they wrapped up the fourth game and the match in style.
"Our boys are in high spirits and they are doing a wonderful job here," Indian team manager B K Ojha said from the north Chinese city of Tianjin.
In their march to the last eight, India had outplayed defending champions South Korea 3-1 and defeated Bahrain 3-1.
Fifteen teams are competing in the championship with the top two finishers qualifying for the World Cup, to be held in Japan in November.
