Thailand sweeps Chinese Taipei to reach semis of Asian Women's Volleyball Championship
Thailand took on the host team of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-final of the 16th Asian Women's Volleyball Championship that is being held in Taipei, Chinese Taipei. The Thai players claimed three sets to beat out the Taipei team and grab their spot in the
Final Four of the tournament on September 21.
Even though the clean sweep shows the dominance of the Thailand squad, they did not get the win easily. The Chinese Taipei team gave their opponents a run for their money even though they were unsuccessful in winning a set. Thailand proved their mettle by
handing out a defeat to the home team at the following final set scores: 25-23, 27-25 and 25-23.
The Thai head coach, R. Kiattipong, made the following statements at the press conference that was conducted after the match: “It was a hard game for us since Chinese Taipei and us are on the equal level in the world of volleyball. We were very lucky to
win since they have very good quick spikers and setters. There are many things we can learn from them, and I hope my teams will change in the next game against Japan,”
On the other hand, the head coach of the Chinese Taipei team, Norimasa Sakakuchi, shared his feelings in the following words: “We had too many errors at key moments, but the players did a very great job. Their performance was good as they had only trained
together for such a short while.”
The first technical time out of the first set saw the Thai taking the lead at 8-7 but Chinese Taipei was able to make the set reach a tie at 11-11. Despite the fact that Chinese Taipei called for a time out to break the momentum of the Thai, Thailand still
managed to stick with the lead at the second technical time out. The home team increased their efforts and got to a tie at 21-21 but Thailand sealed the deal at 25-23.
The second set saw Thailand take the lead early on but Chinese Taipei stayed in the game and got to a tie at 19-19 with a second tie occurring at 25-25. However, the frame rested with the Thai at 27-25 in the end.
The third set brought the lead to Thailand and the frame progressed in much the same way as its predecessor with a Thai win at 25-23 in the end.
The player that was able to make the most points among both the sides was Onuma Sittirak of Thailand as she scored a total of 15 points. Sittirak was helped by her captain, Wilavan Apinyapong, who made her presence felt by adding 13 points of her own. On
the Chinese Taipei side, the most active player was Chen Wan Ting, who tallied 10 points for her team.
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