Groups A, B and C consisted of four teams while Group D had three sides, including Iran with the top two from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.

In Group A, Thailand and Indonesia dominated with big-margin wins over Hong Kong, China and Macau before settling for a 1-1 stalemate in their encounter as the hosts topped the group ahead of their Southeast Asian rivals on goal difference.

Group B saw Vietnam - who lost all their matches in 2015 - rise to the occasion with a perfect run of three wins to top the group at a canter while Chinese Taipei upset Malaysia 4-2 to finish second while Bangladesh - the youngest side in the tournament - ended up in fourth spot.

In Group C, Japan began brightly with wins over Lebanon (5-1) and Bahrain (13-0), as did China PR, who won 5-2 against Bahrain and 6-0 against Lebanon to seal progression to the next stage. Japan finished top after a thrilling 6-4 win against China PR.

Group D started with Iran’s 14-0 defeat of Turkmenistan with Uzbekistan ending their Central Asian rivals' chances with a 3-1 win on Matchday Two. Iran were by far the superior side in their meeting against Uzbekistan, winning 9-2 with Sara Shirbeigi hitting a hat-trick.

Iran were made to work hard in their encounter against China as goals from Tian Jiao and Zhang Yue gave the East Asian side a 2-1 lead before Shahrzad Mozafar’s team bounced back with efforts from Nasimeh Gholami, Fatemeh Etedadi and Shirbeigi as the defending champions advanced with a 4-2 win.

Japan were in total control in their quarter-final against Uzbekistan but only had Anna Amishiro’s goal to take into the break. The East Asians flexed their superiority in the second half, adding another four goals to secure a 5-1 victory.

Vietnam edged Indonesia 2-1 in an all-Southeast Asian affair with Bui Thi Trang opening the scoring in the 13th minute before Febriana equalised for Indonesia five minutes into the second half. Nguyen Thi Hue, however, settled the tie three minutes from full-time.

Thailand turned on the power in the second half to beat Chinese Taipei 6-1 to secure the final last four spot. After being held 1-1 going into the break, Thailand found their scoring touch in the second half with Mamyalee Swaitree starring with a hat-trick.

Iran made light work of Vietnam in their semi-final, winning 5-0 to reach their second successive final. 

Arezoo Sadaghanizadeh got the ball rolling in the fourth minute with further efforts from Etedadi (2), Shirbeigi and Fahimeh Zarei keeping the Central Asians on course to defend their title.

The other semi-final was a gripping contest with Japan edging Thailand 2-1, much to the disappointment of the home fans at Huamark Indoor Stadium. 

Ryo Egawa put Japan ahead in the fifth minute only for Thailand to equalise through Jenjira Bubpha in the 30th minute. Parity only lasted three minutes as Masami Kato’s goal took Japan through.

A repeat of the 2015 final with Iran confirming their status as the queens of Asian futsal as they defeated Japan 5-2.

After a goalless opening half, the match sprung into life in the second period as Iran scored four times in the space of four incredible minutes with the impressive Shirbeigi collecting a hat-trick of goals with Misato Komura also scoring an unfortunate own goal.

Mika Eguchi pulled a goal back for Japan but Iran restored their four-goal advantage through Zarei with Amishiro’s late effort a mere consolation for the beaten finalists.

Thailand finished third after they edged Vietnam 3-2 on penalties with the playoff having ended goalless.

For the second straight tournament, Iran’s Fereshteh Karimi scooped the Most Valuable Player award.