Thais hatch plan for mighty China

World No 16 Thailand powered past Taiwan to set up a meeting today with defending champions China in the semi-finals of the 17th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship at Chatchai Hall.

Yesterday Thailand defeated Taiwan 25-13 25-14 25-23 in the knockout quarter-finals. It was the second time in a month that the AVC Cup winners had beaten their Asean arch-rivals, after a straight-sets win in the World Women’s Volleyball Asian qualifier in Japan. 

The victory yesterday meant Thailand advanced to the semi-finals of the prestigious Asian meet for the fourth time in a row, and seventh overall in 14 attempts. The semi-final berth also guarantees Thailand a place in the FIVB World Grand Prix next year.

Thailand and seven other teams had already automatically qualified for the AVC Cup next year by making the quarter-finals here.

Against a young Taiwan team, a Thai side led by Onuma Sittirak, Wilavan Apinyapong and Pleumjit Thinkaow showed no mercy. Southpaw Chen Wan-ting fought hard, though, spearheading Taiwan’s attack with her devastating spikes.

Cheered on by a huge crowd who had braved heavy rain to reach the venue, Thailand wrapped up the first two games comfortably. Perhaps overconfident, the home side then began making unforced errors, while the visitors gritted their teeth and counter-attacked to lead all the way.

Thailand trailed 14-17 but roused themselves to catch up at 18 and again at 22. The hosts then allowed their inexperienced rivals just one more point before capturing the hard-fought third game 25-23 and with it the match.

Attacker Onuma was top Thai scorer with 17 points, while Chen top-scored with 14 points for Taiwan.

Thailand have a poor record against their next opponents China, who are ranked No 5 in the world and whose recent accomplishments, including a silver medal at the World Grand Prix, eclipse the feats of the hosts. The Kingdom’s women have already lost twice this year to the Chinese, who triumphed in straight sets on home soil in Shenzhen and Ningbo in May.

“I think my players put up a decent performance against Taiwan. They controlled their emotions and maintained their concentration despite trailing Taiwan in the third game,” Thailand’s head coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai said.

“The defeat against Kazakhstan in our first match was an eye opener. It gave us a new perspective on where we stand. My players have become tactically more aware since then, which has boosted their confidence. From that point on, they have improved significantly.

“Our next match against China will be tough. There is no doubt that they are much stronger than us. Their blocking, attacking and serving abilities are fantastic. However, that doesn’t mean we have no chance of beating China. We still have a chance to match them and beat them, but only if we avoid making too many unforced mistakes and improve on our blocking ability,” said Kiattipong.

Earlier, world No 3 and Olympic bronze medallists Japan powered past Iran in straight sets 25-16 25-13 25-11. Kazakhstan were playing South Korea at press time late yesterday, with the winners likely to meet Japan in the semi-finals. China were due to take on Vietnam in the last match of the day.