Thais eye improvement after defeat

Nakhonratchasima fought hard against a squad dominated by Japan national-team players led by powerful left-hander Miyu Nagaoka, Risa Shinnabe, Kanako Hirai, Nana Iwasaka, Yumi Mizuta and Maiko Kano.

Nakhonratchasima boasted five national players of their own, including Thaphaphaiphan Chaisri, Thatdao Nuekjang, Pornpun Guedpard and Wanichaya Luangthonglang.

Nagaoka’s spectacular attacks and solid blocks by Iwasaka and Hirai saw the Japanese power through the first two sets 25-18 25-18. Nakhonratchasima regrouped and fought back in the third, but Thai hopes were finally snuffed with a 25-21 victory for the Japanese.

The other Pool A match saw Iran’s Matin Varamin come from nowhere to stun Vietnam’s Thong Tin Lienvietpostbank in a gruelling 119 minutes and five sets, 25-23 16-25 25-21 15-25 15-9.

Meanwhile, four-time champions Bohai Bank Tianjin of China overwhelmed India’s KSEB 25-8 25-7 25-10 in Pool B, while Kazakhstan’s Zhetyssu outclassed Taipei 25-21, 23-25, 25-9 25-16, and PLDT of the Philippines thrashed Singapore’s VAS 25-8 25-19 25-9.

At the end of the round-robin preliminaries on Monday, Hisamitsu Springs top Group A with nine points from a perfect three wins out of three, followed by Nakhonratchasima with four points from one win against two losses. Thong Tin Lienvietpostbank and Matin Varamin were third and fourth, respectively. Tianjin lead Group B with 15 points from straight five wins, followed by Zhetyssu, Taipei, PLDT, KSEB and VAS.

Today, Hisamitsu take on PLDT, Tianjin play Matin Varamin, Nakhonratchasima challenge Taipei and Zhetyssu face Lienvietpostbank in the round of eight. The first match starts at 12pm,