Taiwan edge past hosts Thailand in exhausting five-set thriller

Against hosts Thailand, Taiwan, which have been absent for six years from the tournament as they last competed in the 2010 edition in Urmia, Iran, where they finished fourth place, fielded a formidable line-up. Most of the Taiwanese players competed in the gold-winning Taichung Bank club of Taiwan at the last year’s Asian Men’s Club Championship on home soil. They included deadly southpaw Wu Tsung-Hsuan and hard-attacking Liu Hung-Min. Taking the Thailand’s charge were ace spiker Jirayu Raksakaew and Kittikun Sri-utthawong.

Thailand took the home crowd advantage to take a 5-1 lead in the first set, thanks to Jirayu’s mighty cross-court attacks and solid blocks from Jirayu and Kissada Nilsawai. Taiwan fought back with thundering attacks from Wu and Liu and solid blocks rom Chen Chien-Chen and Chang Liang-Hao to come close at 20-22. Though cheered on by home spectators, Thailand became more prone with unforced spiking and serving mistakes. Taiwan seized the chance to storm on for the comeback first-set win 25-23.

Going down one set, Thailand gathered their courage and hit back with combination attacks and scintillating blocks to capture the pole position 14-11. Taiwan’s head coach Chen Ke-Chou called for a timeout to improve his team’s fortunes. His intention was almost fruitful when they caught up with Thailand 23-23. The host side kept up the pressure to win the remaining two points 25-23, thanks to sharp attacks from young, towering Kantapat Koonmee, 18 and standing 204cm tall.

Thailand struggled to hit form in the third set, which they trailed narrowly 12-15, but upped their tempo and tried to overcome their nervousness. Still, they found the visitors a tough nut to crack. Taiwan mixed the Wu’s devastating attacks with terrific jump serves by Chen Chien-Chen to maintain their lead 24-19.  A Jirayu’s lightning-fast spike saved one set point for Thailand before Taiwan ran way with the set win 25-20.

The Thai fans became to life when their team jumped to a 15-11 lead in the fourth set. However, from then they could not keep their good show running due to their service mistakes and the visitors just fought back heavily to close the margin 22-22. Jirayu entertained the local enthusiasts with his overwhelming talent and kills to help the hosts claim the hard-fought set 25-22.

In the deciding set, Taiwan tightened their defence, which made the Thais unable to penetrate easily. Leading 13-11 for good, Taiwan played cool under pressure, but the hosts, still cheered on loudly by home fans, caught the visitors 15-15 and 18-18. Both teams poured everything to win the breathtaking set, but at the final assault, Taiwan put the noisy Thai crowds under their feet to win the marathon set 27-25 and match.

Wu Tsung-Hsuan scored a match-high 30 points for Taiwan including 29 kills from 43 attempts. Chen Chien-Chen and Liu Hung-Min added with 14 and 13 kills respectively, while Jirayu Raksakaew also top scored with 30 points for Thailand including 28 kills from 50 attempts. Kittikun Sri-utthawong and Kissada Nilsawai contributed with 11 and 10 points respectively through their deadly attacks.

“We had a bit pressure taking on hosts Thailand. Thailand played well with their high-jumping attackers. Our serves were not that good today. We have to improve it in our next match against Kazakhstan. The Kazakhs are very tall and towering. To match them effectively, we have to come up with fast attacks. I hope my team can maintain their form to have good results in this tournament,” Taiwan’s head coach Chen Ke-Chou commented after the match.