HANOI, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion China lost 3-2 to Thailand at the Asian Women's U19 Volleyball Championship in Vietnam's northern Bac Ninh province on Tuesday.

China was beaten 13-25, 25-20, 25-27, 25-22 and 15-10.

In other actions, host Vietnam was whitewashed 3-0 by Japan (25-12, 25-12, and 25-21), South Korea downed Kazakhstan 3-2 (23-25, 17-25, 25-20, 25-14 and 15-6), Chinese Taipei beat India 3-0 (25-17, 25-21 and 25-13), Hong Kong, China defeated Australia 3-2 (17-25, 27-25, 22-25, 25-18 and 15-8), Iran downed Macao, China 3-0 (25-11, 25-18 and 25-12), and Sri Lanka lost to Malaysia 3-0 (25-16, 25-23 and 25-23).

At the 2018 Asian Women's U19 Volleyball Championship from June 10 to 17, China is in Group A along with Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. Group B consists of South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and India.

Group C includes China's two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, Australia and Iran; and Group D has Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.

At the previous championship in 2016 in Thailand, China finished first, followed by Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Asian Women's U19 Volleyball Championship is a biennial volleyball competition in Asia and Oceania contested by the U19 women's teams of the members of Asian Volleyball Confederation. It has been held since 1980. Enditem