Thailand avoid big guns, target Taiwan in QF
Thailand spikers were on cloud nine after learning they will face lower-ranked Taiwan, and not world No 10 South Korea, in today's knockout quarterfinals of the 17th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship at Chatchai Hall.
In the final round of Pool F matches on Tuesday, titleholders and world No 5 China thrashed the Koreans 3-0 (25-22 25-14 25-17), while Taiwan outclassed Iran 3-0 (25-18 25-15 25-14). The Pool E finale saw world No 3 Japan power past Kazakhstan 30 (25-15 25-15 24-26 25-12) and Thailand tame their SEA Games archrivals Vietnam 3-0 (25-11 25-15 25-15).
That left Japan, Kazakhstan and Thailand tied atop Pool E with six points each from two wins against one loss.
The three teams had an identical record of sets won against sets lost (seven wins to four losses), so judges looked at the points ratio to decide the final Pool E rankings. Topscorers Japan duly topped the pool, with Thailand second and Kazakhstan third. Winless Vietnam trailed in fourth.
In Pool F, China reigned supreme as expected after collecting a maximum nine points from three wins to remain the only unbeaten team in the prestigious tournament. The Koreans had six points from two wins against one loss, while Taiwan were third in the Pool with three points from one win, and lacklustre Iran in fourth.
Today, the knockout quarterfinals see Thailand take on Taiwan, China face Vietnam, South Korea challenge Kazakhstan and Japan play Iran. The four winning teams will advance to the semifinals, guaranteeing them berths at next year’s FIVB World Grand Prix..
On Tuesday, a large home crowd cheered the win against Vietnam but then had to wait patiently for the results of the late match between Japan and Kazakhstan to discover whether Thailand faced a daunting task against South Korea or an easier job against Taiwan in today’s knockout clash.
“I breathed a sigh of relief after learning that we got Taiwan, who are not so strong. I think we stand a better chance of beating them than playing a doordie match against the much stronger Koreans,” Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai, Thailand’s head coach, said.
“We could play any team in this round, but if we’d had a choice, it would have been Taiwan rather than stronger rivals like Korea,” he added. Elsewhere, the 9th16th classification round at the MCC Hall in The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima saw India thrash Sri Lanka 3-0 (25-13 25-15 25-19), Mongolia brush off Hong Kong 31 (25-16 23-25 25-22 25-17), Australia outclass Indonesia 3-1 (23-25 30-28 25-14 25-18) and the Philippines down Myanmar 3-0 (25-18 25-22 25-18).
