HANOI, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion China defeated Thailand 3-2 on Saturday to secure a berth in the final of the Asian Women's U19 Volleyball Championship, played in Vietnam's northern Bac Ninh province.

The final scores after five sets were 25-16, 25-19, 12-25, 17-25 and 15-7.

The two teams' players were of a similar age, with China averaging 17.5 years to Thailand's 17.2, but the Chinese athletes took advantage of their superior height, as they stood at an average of 1.85 meters, compared with 1.75 meters for the Thai players, who struggled to cope with China's powerful spikes through the course of the match.

In the other semifinal, Japan routed Chinese Taipei 3-0 with scores of 25-10, 25-14 and 25-19, and will play China in Sunday's final. Chinese Taipei will take on Thailand for the bronze medal match.

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

The Asian Women's U19 Volleyball Championship occurs every two years, and was first held in 1980.