Australia officially bowed out of the competitions at the 2013 Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship after suffering back-to-back losses in the preliminary round of the tournament in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

After a good start versus Mongolia in a straight sets win, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18, Australia fell to the hosts Thailand in similar fashion losing in three sets, 16-25, 17-25, 14-25.

Despite the loss, the Aussies still had a chance to advance to the second round but couldn’t handle Kazakhstan in the do-or-die third outing. They stretched the game after winning the third in a close one but the Kazakhs regained their form in the fourth set and finished the match, 25-16, 25-15, 26-24, 25-18.

From the sixteen teams that originally were in contention, only two teams from each pool (A, B, C and D) have advanced to the next round.

At the end of the three-game preliminaries, Kazakhstan (3-0) and Thailand (2-1) came out on top of Pool A; China (3-0) and Iran (2-1) in Pool B; Japan (3-0) and Vietnam (2-1) in Pool C; and South Korea (3-0) and Chinese Taipei (2-1) in Pool D.

While out of contention already for the Asian volleyball tilt title, team Australia as well as ousted teams like Mongolia, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Myanmar will still chasing all-important points for the FIVB world rankings in the 9th to 16th classification round.

The remaining eight teams in contention are vying for berths in three major events in 2013 and 2014. The champion will represent Asia in the 2013 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup set November 12 to 17, 2013 in Japan; the finalists—aside from automatic qualifiers Japan and China—will play in the 2014 FIVB World Grand Prix and the top eight teams will be shoo-ins in the 2014 AVC Cup for Women.