Korea upsets Thailand by 3-1: 16th Asian Women's Volleyball Championship
A Pool E match of the 16th Asian Women's Volleyball Championship saw Korea compete with Thailand, the defending champions of the tournament. The contest took place on the 18th of September in Taipei, China. At the end of the four set
long match, the Koreans found themselves at the winning end of a hard fought battle.
The first set was highly competitive with both teams staying neck to neck with each other. As the set drew to its close, Korea was at a 0-1 set deficit. The loss of the opening set spurred the Koreans into action and they were able to storm the second set
to equalise the match. Not only did the Koreans smother the Thai players in the second set, they did a better of job of it in the third set. The Thailand squad was able to step up in the fourth set but the effort came in too late as the Koreans sealed the
deal on the match at the following final set scores: 25-27, 25-17, 25-13 and 25-21.
The start of the opening set of the match was fairly balanced as both teams worked hard to stay ahead of the other. As the first technical time out came along, the score was close at 8-6 with a Korean lead. The Koreans did not let go of the advantage and
were able to stretch it to the second technical time out at 16-13. Despite the fact that the Thai were trailing behind, they did not give up the chase and were able to eventually draw level at 23-23. After that point, the Koreans were able to seize the set
point but Thailand put on an impressive display of volleyball skills that got them the first set win of the game at 27-25.
The second set got both the teams performing on level ground as a result of which there were quite a few lead changes early on. Unfortunately for Thailand, their lead spiker Onuma Sittirak got injured and Thailand experienced a slowdown in their performance.
As a result, the Koreans were able to get hold of the lead at 19-14 that turned into a win at 25-17.
The Koreans started off the third set strong and got the lead at 13-8. It was not a tough job for Korea to bag a 25-13 win. The Thai stepped up in the fourth set and stood close at 14-12 but the Koreans prevailed in securing the fourth set of the game at
25-21.
The highest number of points was scored by the Korean player, Kim Yeon Koung, as she tallied an impressive number of 33 points in the entire match. Koung was helped by her team-mate, Jung Dae Koung, who was able to make her presence felt by adding 12 points
of her own. The player that was able to top the Thai scoring was Malika Kanthong who posted 13 points for her team while Wilavan Apinyapong contributed nine points.
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