Thailand ready to take on hosts South Korea and the world
Asian volleyball champions Thailand are ready to take on the world's 11 best teams in the FIVB World Grand Prix, which starts today.
Thai women, who finished a disappointing 13th last year, have been drawn in Pool B with Germany, Serbia and South Korea in the first of the three-week preliminaries. They will open their campaign against the hosts today at 2.10pm Bangkok time. Channel 7 will televise the match live.
The Thais arrived in Suwon on July 29 and started training at the Kyonggi University gymnasium the next day. Not happy with that, the AVC Cup title-holders shifted to the competition venue – Hwaseong Gymnasium – located far away from their hotel, and underwent an intensive training session.
South Korea, who have an eight-win, one-loss record against Thailand in the FIVB-sanctioned tournaments, have not met the Thais when the hosts won the Asian Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima. The last time the two teams clashed was at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament two years ago in Tokyo, where the Koreans pulled off a one-sided win.
“Every team in our pool is very strong. We are determined to beat all of them,” Thailand head coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai said yesterday.
“My players have improved significantly. They are fit physically and mentally. Their techniques and tactics are also improving. We have to use our strong points against the Koreans.
“I think it’s good for us to take on the hosts on the first day. If we beat the Koreans, it will give us the confidence to do well in the World Grand Prix. Both teams will be under pressure to perform.
“The Koreans are quite tall. Kim Yeon-koung, who is among the world’s top players and scorers, is a formidable opponent. The Koreans’ first-ball reception, blocking and digging are occasionally poor. I think it will be a close match but my players will try their best,” he said.
This year’s World Grand Prix features 12 top teams – title-holders Brazil, the USA, Japan, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Serbia, South Korea, China, Italy, Dominican Republic and Thailand.
After three-week preliminaries, only the top-four teams besides hosts Japan and Group 2 winners will make the cut for the Grand Finals in Tokyo from August 20 to 24.
