Credit should go to the players: Kiattipong

Thailand’s stunning 19-25 25-19 25-22 21-25 16-14 win over the World Grand Prix silver medallists, in the semi-finals was a repeat of final in the AVC Cup last year, where the Thai women beat China to win the prestigious event for the first time in history.

In the other semi-final, London Olympic bronze medallists Japan were in awesome form to power past battling South Korea in four dramatic games 25-22 19-25 25-19 25-20.

The Koreans were due to take on China, to whom they lost in straight games in the pool round-robin quarter-finals, in yesterday’s third-place play-off, while Japan were to challenge the host side in the final at 6pm.

Thailand’s win on Friday sparked dramatic scenes. Thai players ran into one another’s arms, hugging and dancing in circles while the home crowd roared and jumped for joy. There were smiles and laughter all over the hall. 

The Chinese players left the court, sad and disappointed.

Thailand’s head coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai said: “China put utmost effort to try to win the match but my players had learned a lot during the course of the tournament. 

“Everything clicked on the day. The victory, indeed, came as a big surprise. We were just expecting to reach the semi-finals. 

“All credit to the players. They played beyond their potential. We have to take good care of them. Some of them are playing with injuries.”

China’s legendary coach Lang Ping praised the Thai performance. “Thailand did a pretty good job,” she said. “We tried very hard in the match. [But] we had a problem in passing the ball. 

“The Thai players have been playing together for a long time and understand one another properly. It was not that we lost because we did not play well. We were good and sometimes bad. Importantly, we were not consistent. We have to improve 

our ball control and tactics,” she said.

Asked if the noise made by the cheering home fans affected the performance of her players, Lang Ping denied. “No. It’s normal. The tournament is held in their country and generally, a large number of home fans cheer them. To be a big, successful team, you must beat every team no matter what circumstances you are in.”

In the play-offs, Taiwan thrashed Iran 3-0 (25-9 25-16 25-17) to take seventh place and Kazakhstan won eighth position after coming from behind to beat Vietnam 3-2 (18-25 18-25 30-28 25-21 15-6).

Australia took ninth place after brushing off Indonesia in a close battle 25-22 25-17 25-23 and the Independent Team from India fought well to beat the Philippines 25-19 25-22 25-16 to claim 11th position.

Hong Kong captured 13th place after beating Mongolia 25-20 20-25 25-23 25-18 and Sri Lanka took home 15th position following a magnificent come-from-behind 3-1 (24-26 26-24 25-23 25-16) victory over Myanmar.