Bangkok Glass claim third place at Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship
Reigning champions Bangkok Glass had to be content with the third place at the “SMM” 2016 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship following a fantastic comeback 3-2 (22-25 23-25 25-19 25-21 15-6 victory over Kazakhstan’s Altay VC in the third place pla
Last year, Bangkok Glass stunned the 2015 defending champions Hisamitsu Springs from Japan 3-2 in the final showdown at the previous year’s edition in Ha Nam, Vietnam to become the first-ever Thai club to capture the Asian Club title. However, this year, things turned sour for Bangkok Glass, known as the Rabbit Women, when they lost a hard-fought five-set thriller to Japan’s NEC Red Rockets in the semi-finals on Saturday.
In the Sunday’s bronze-medal match, Bangkok Glass, which fielded a strong line-up led by superstar spiker Pleumjit Thinkaow, Wilavan Apinyapong and hard-hitting Jutarat Montripila, struggled to find their form as they went down in the first two sets. Fortunately, with more determination and consistent play, Bangkok Glass improved their fortunes to win the remaining three sets to take the third position in the top-flight competition.
At press time, Japan’s NEC Red Rockets were due to take on China’s Ba’Yi Shenzheng in the final showdown. The eventual winners at this championship will represent Asia at the 2017 FIVB Women’s Club Volleyball World Championship.
Earlier, Iran’s Sarmayeh Bank downed Vietnam’s Thongtiin Lien Viet Post Bank 25-23 25-17 25-23 to take home the fifth place, while hosts Foton Pilipinas struggled to beat T. Grand of Taiwan 25-17 30-28 25-23 in the seventh-place playoff.
