Defending champions China are to clash with Japan in the final of the 12th Asian women's volleyball championship after beating Thailand 25-17, 25-22, 25-17 on Friday.

It's China's six straight win in the eight-day tournament.

With two sets down, Thailand found its offense to tie from 5-5 to 10-10 in the third set. But China surged ahead afterward with a 11-2 run to seal the 3-0 victory.

Zhao Ruirui led China with 16 points and Yang Hao added 12.

"Our players were a little bit sluggish today," said Chinese coach Chen Zhonghe. "They made a lot of unforced errors during the match."

Thailand reaped 18 points from China's errors.

"I am satisfied with our players' performance today," said Thailand Srisamutnak Nataphon. "They played very well in the beginning of every set, but they made mistakes afterward and lost the match."

Japan outclassed South Korea, runners-up of the 2001 Championship, 26-24, 25-21, 25-19.

Japan dominated South Korea in every aspect. Kurihara Megumi scored highest 17 points, Sasaki Miki added 14 points.

South Korea skipper Chio Kwang-Hee had 13 points to lead the team.

Japan, fourth place finisher in 2001, tied with South Korea 25- 25 in the first set and scored two points to go ahead.

Japan blew away the South Koreans in the following two sets by its powerful attacks and tenacious defense with 53 spikes and 58 successful digs.

"This is the real Japanese team," said Japan head coach Shoichi Yanagimoto. "We didn't played very well in the last few days, but I am satisfied with their performance today. All of them played very well."

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