Host Chang earns third-place finish at the AVC Women’s Club Volleyball Championship
The host of 2012 AVC Women’s Club Volleyball Championship Thailand finished third in the competition.
The host country squad Chang defeated Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu in the third-position match last Sunday. The visiting Kazak ladies failed to sustain the pressure and accepted defeat in straight sets, 0-3 (21-25, 10-25, 18-25).
Success in the crucial match enabled the hosts to finish on the podium. The team could not climb up to the first or second spot but still managed to put a nice end to the tournament. No. 13 player of Chang Nootsara Tomkom settled for the Best Server’s award
in the competition. The duo of Wilavan Apinyapong and Onuma Sittirak played an instrumental role in Chang’s overall performance. They helped the team in crucial times and received huge applause from their fans.
In the first round of the championship, Chang was placed in Pool A alongside teams from Japan, Iran, Vietnam, and Myanmar. The start of the campaign was not very good for the hosts as they lost their first match to Toray Arrows of Japan. The home ladies
put up a valiant effort in the opening affair and did pretty well that the match prolonged to five sets. However, Chang dropped the decision with a small margin and received first defeat in the competition.
Next up the local team played three matches in a row but did not allow the visiting teams to create any trouble for them. Chang pulled up a straight-set win against Vietnam’s VTV Binh Dien Long An in the second match and jumped on the winning track. They
crossed their ways with Giti Pasand Isfahan of Iran in third match. The Iranian team got sidelined by Chang in the similar fashion as the match concluded in three sets.
The last fixture of the preliminary round-robin of the 2012 AVC Women’s Club Volleyball Championship brought the hosts in competition with Asia World of Myanmar. It proved to be another easy game for Chang as the guest team gave out the match in consecutive
sets. Hence, Chang finished the opening round of the tournament with an overall record of 3-1 and got hold of second spot in pool ranking.
In the next run, Malaysia’s Santa Barbara challenged the hosts in the quarter-finals but could not match its performance with the home team. Chang qualified for the semi-finals after beating Santa Barbara.
However, the Chinese Tianjin Bridgestone held off Chang for 3-0 victory and moved the hosts to bronze-medal match. Chang defeated Zhetysu in the last match of the tournament and emerged as the bronze medallist team in the 2012 AVC Women’s Club Volleyball
Championship.
Chang’s ultimate goal was to secure a spot in the upcoming FIVB Volleyball Club World Championship but China’s Tianjin Bridgestone clinched the berth by winning the final match.
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