Wrap-up Day 3
By Maryam Hessaby
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, October 3, 2021 – Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC and Altay stayed unbeaten to top their pools at the end of the pool round-robin preliminaries of the 2021 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship on Sunday as home teams enjoyed mixed fortunes, with Nakhon Ratchasima overcoming Zhetysu in Pool A and Supreme Chonburi suffering shock defeat at the hands of Altay in Pool B.
Nakhon Ratchasima overtook Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu to stay atop Pool A as the current Thailand League runner-up won a hard-fought five-set thriller 25-20 18-25 25-19 17-25 15-10 in exhausting 128 minutes in their last preliminary match on Sunday.
Unbeaten Nakhon Ratchasima had 5 points from two straight wins to finish first in Pool A. Zhetysu came in second place with 4 points from one win against one loss, with winless Choco Mucho in third position.
Nakhon Ratchasima head coach Thanakit Inleang praised his team players after the match, “Zhetysu players are quite good in tactics. Frankly, losing two sets earlier in the match disappointed us, but we did not give up easily. My players bounced back to win the decider and match. I think it was a very challenging, but entertaining game for both teams. My players showed signs of fatigue resulted from the tense training they had in a short period of time, so I would like to thank them for their tireless devotion throughout the end of the game.”
In Pool B, Altay, another strong team from Kazakhstan, became the only team in this championship which have yet lost a single set to their respective rivals and captured the Pool B top spot with 9 points from three wins in succession.
Fresh from 3-0 demolition of Saipa and Rebisco, Altay produced a sensational 25-23, 25-12, 25-14 triumph against powerhouses Supreme Chonburi, former consecutive two-time Asian Club champions and silver medallists at the previous edition in China two years ago, in their last preliminary encounter on Sunday. The Thai side came in second place in the pool after bagging 6 points from two wins against one loss.
Supreme Chonburi head coach Nataphon Srisamutnak admitted the loss, but set sight on his team players to make a successful comeback.
“I have to admit Altay were in their top form today. In the first set, our team did well in putting them under pressure at the beginning of the game. We have some problems with the middle blockers when they came up with well-placed serves. Altay did their homework well to fight against us. We need to fix these mistakes and get back in shape for the next game. We will focus on one match at a time and make sure to win tomorrow to secure our place in the semifinal,” he commented.
The Iran’s Super League champions Saipa finished third in Pool B with 3 points from one win against 2 losses. On Sunday, Saipa pulled off a pulsating 3-1 (26-24, 22-25, 25-13, 25-17) victory over Rebisco of the Philippines. Rebisco remained winless to come in fourth position in the pool.
All seven participating teams completed their three-day pool plays on Sunday and were ranked respectively due to their performances in each pool. The cross quarterfinals will be held on Monday, with Pool A winners Nakhon Ratchasima taking on Rebisco, Supreme Chonburi challenging Choco Mucho of the Philippines and Saipa going up against Zhetysu.
Pool B winners Altay are due to take on the team finishing fourth in Pool A in the quarterfinals, but since Pool A featured only three teams, Altay received a quarterfinal bye and will be through to the Wednesday’s semifinals.
The four winners in the quarterfinals including Altay will advance to the semifinals, with the losers relegated to classification round for 5th-7th places.
MATCH RESULTS
STANDING AFTER PRELIMINARY ROUND
MATCH SCHEDULE
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