European champs Russia too strong for gallant Thailand
Gallant Thailand’s efforts of stunning world No.4 Russia for the first time ever in their FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix did not bear fruit as the world No.13 were sent packing by the European champions in pulsating straight sets in the Pool F encounter
Tall and towering Russia, whose height average is 187cm against the Thais’ 175cm, powered past the determined Thais 25-22 25-22 25-13. The convincing win has stretched the Russia’s aura of invincibility to a remarkable 9-0 record against the Thais. Thailand have beaten the European powerhouses just once in the 2013 FIVB World Grand Champions’ Cup in Tokyo, Japan, where they overpowered the Russians 3-1 in the single round-robin tournament.
In the opening set, Russia used their height advantage to effectively block the Thai attacks and at the same time, unleashed a series of spectacular spikes to commandingly lead 10-3. Thailand gathered their courage and hit back with powerful mid-court spikes by Ajcharaporn Kongyot, who turned 21 on Saturday, and hard-attacking Wilavan Apinyapong. The Asian side reduced the gap 20-23, but the Russians held their nerves to win the thrilling set 25-22.
It turned out to be the similar script in the second set when Thailand performed superbly in blocking and attacking the much stronger rivals. Ajcharaporn and Pimpichaya Kokram took turns penetrating the Russian defence to help Thailand take an initial 8-4 lead. Russia put their acts together, with ace spiker Nataliya Goncharova tearing the Thai defence into shreds. Russia caught up with Thailand 14-14 and went on to win the hard-fought set 25-22.
Conceding two straight sets, Thailand tried to make a comeback, but their high hopes were completely shattered. The Russians played exceptionally well to win the lop-sided set 25-13 and the comfortable match.
Ajcharaporn Kongyot was the trump card of Thailand after top scoring with 14 points. Nataliya Goncharava scored a match-high 23 points
Despite the loss, Thailand’s head coach Danai Sriwatcharamaytakul expressed his satisfaction over his team’s performance.
“I think we played well. I gave my team 80 per cents for their impressive performance against the much stronger Russia. As far as I know, we played brilliantly in the first two sets, but in the third set, the Russians came up with dazzling serves, while our first-ball reception was a far cry from the first two sets. Russia’s aggression also frustrated our teamwork and we were unable to hit back with fast spikes and attacking combinations,” Danai commented.
“Setter Nootsara (Tomkom) deserved the team’s outstanding player for this match as she set smartly for team-mates to produce excellent attacks. In this match, we rested Malika (Kanthong) and instead we fielded everyone to gain valuable experience against the stronger rivals. Everyone did her good job. I’m very happy with the way my team played,” he added.
Thailand next go up against the Netherlands at 10.30pm Bkk time on Sunday, June 19 and Channel 7 will televise the match live.
