Thai spikers eye German revenge in second leg of Worlds
Thailand are well-prepared to gain revenge against world No 9 Germany, the team they lost to in straight sets last year, when the FIVB World Grand Prix Group 1 Pool D kicks off at the 11,000-seater Governo Do Estado De Sao Paulo Stadium tonight (Friday) a
Last week, the Thai spikers finished third at home in Pool A after struggling to beat Serbia 3-2 in the first match then going down to Japan and two-time Olympic champions Brazil by the same 0-3 scoreline. On Monday, the Thai squad took a 21-hour flight from Bangkok to Sao Paulo to compete in Pool D against Belgium, Germany and hosts Brazil this weekend.
World No 12 and former two-time Asian winners Thailand open their Pool D campaign against last year’s Montreux Volley Masters winners Germany tonight. The teams have met nine times in FIVB tournaments, with Germany dominating the head-to-head record 8-1. Thailand’s only victory over the Germans came in 2010 in the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.
Tonight, Thailand will be without key playmaker Ajcharaporn Kongyot, who emerged as the team’s top scorer in two of the three matches in Bangkok last week but sustained a right-ankle injury. Expected to be in the starting line-up are Onuma Sittirak, Pleumjit Thinkaow, Nootsara Tomkom, Wilavan Apiinyapong and Malika Kanthong, all part of the team that won last month’s SEA Games title for the eighth time in a row.
“After arriving in Brazil, we have done light training to check our physical condition,” said Thai head coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai.
“We found that many players are still suffering fatigue, so we took things slowly and gradually made it tougher each day. After that, we instructed them in more tactics and techniques. We also studied tapes of our rivals.”
“I set an initial target of at least four points foe the team here in Brazil. Germany and Belgium could be teams we can cope well against, but it won’t be easy to beat them. My players are very determined and will go all out for wins. Brazil, of course, are the strongest team. We just plan to do our best against the world No 2 on their home soil,” he added.
Germany are two-time world bronze medalists (2002 and 2009) but last year finished a disappointing 10th place, while Thailand’s best performance came in 2012 when they finished fourth among the elite teams. Last year, the Thai team failed to make their mark to finish a distant 11th.
