China spikes dream of first Thai volleyball title
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Thai spikers' dreams of a historic Asiad gold medal in Incheon were dashed yesterday when reigning champions and AVC Cup winners China came from behind to defeat the Asian champions 3-1 in the semi-finals.
The 19-25 25-23 25-15 25-19 win over Thailand carried the Chinese to their 10th final in the Asian Games. The Thai team, which is yet to win an Asiad medal, face a play-off for the bronze against the losers of the match between hosts South Korea and Japan, which was due late last night.
Thailand fielded a strong line-up but their attack was weakened by the absence of libero Piyanut Pannoy, who sustained a muscle strain on Monday, forcing Thai head coach Nattapon Srisamutnak to replace her with attacker Tapaphaipun Chaisri.
Thailand got off to a brilliant start, with Onuma Sittirak and Wilavan Apinyapong overcom-ing taller blockers with spectacular attacks to claim the first set 25-19.
The Thai players then lost their touch in the second set to trail by as wide a margin as 9-20, before fighting back to 23-24. But China stepped up a gear to win the thriller 25-23.
The third and fourth sets were dominated by the much stronger Chinese, who boast an average height of 184cm – a full 10cm taller than the Thais. China attacked devastatingly and blocked effectively to win both sets 25-15 and 25-19.
“We let the people down. Although, we weren’t able to bring back the gold for them, we will do our best to clinch bronze.
“We played well in the first set, but suffered poor reception in the next three sets.
“We made too many serving and attacking mistakes,” Nattapong commented.
“Playing without our genuine libero, Piyanut, also affected our defence. We still have a match to play in Incheon and I hope my team will do their best to win the bronze, which would be our first medal in the Asian Games,” he added.
Thailand will battle for the bronze in Ansan Sangnoksu Gymnasium at 11.30pm tomorrow, Bangkok time.
