Thailand overcome poor start and Germany

Thailand trailed 05 in the first set against European powerhouses Germany, but gradually pulled their game together to hit back with Ajcharaporn Kongyot’s powerful midcourt attacks. However, the Germans played great defence without any major setback to win the comfortable first set 2516.

In the second set, Thailand, silver medallists at the last week’s Montreux Volley Masters in Switzerland, led briefly 75 and from then on found their touch to stretch the lead to 2420, needing only one more point to take the set. 

Germany, who went down to the Thais in straight sets in the last year’s meeting in Sao Paolo, Brazil, blasted four consecutive points to level 2424. The battle became more thrilling when both sides poured everything, but Thailand held their nerves to win the hotlycontested set 2826.

 

Final moment after Thailand came from behind to beat Germany 3-1 in their last Pool A match in the 2016 World Grand Prix in Ningbo, China on Sunday.

Germany had a great start in the third set to lead 1411 before Thailand struck back mightily to tie the score at 17, thanks to Ajcharaporn’s spectacular attacks and solid blocks from Pleumjit Thinkaow and Ajcharaporn. Thailand widened the margin to 2321. An erratic serve by Denise Hanke handed the Thais a crucial match point 2421. The Thai delights did not last long when a serve from Malika Kanthong also went to the net, leaving the Germans to come near at 2224. The Thais felt relieved a moment later when Liza Izquierdo also produced a poor serve, which went to the net. Thailand took the thrilling set 2522.

The fourth set turned out to be a onesided battle when Thai players came out in full force to dominate the whole game. Thailand captured the comfortable set 2516 and the match.

After the match, Thai head coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai said that he was pleased with the team’s performance, but also praised the Germans’ good show. “Germany are a strong team. To beat them is not that easy. They are tall and block well. We found it hard to overcome that. However, we just played better after finding a way out to nullify their tactics.”

Germany’s head coach Felix Kozlowski said: “The Thai players are very strong with fast attacks and fine defence. It’s always difficult to play an Asian team. My players are young and inexperienced. Only four of them are used to playing Asians. We tried to cope with the Thai tactics, but it was in vain. However, I admit my players gained valuable experience from this match and hope we can do better in the following games.”

Thailand will leave for Bari, Italy, today in preparation for the secondweek preliminaries Pool F clash against Russia, Italy and the Netherlands from June 17 to 19.

What did Thai captain Pleumjit Thinkaow say about the Thai match against Germany?