Nakhon Ratchasima, Altay fight for AVC’s lone berth up for grabs for FIVB Club World Championship in Turkey
Wrap-Up Day 5
By Maryam Hessaby
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, October 6, 2021 – Hosts Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC and Kazakhstan’s Altay set up a highly-anticipated final clash in the 2021 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship after powering past their respective rivals in the semi-finals, with the former capturing a scintillating straight-set win against Supreme Chonburi and the latter brushing off Saipa in a dramatic four-setter at Terminal 21 Hall on Wednesday.
In the Wednesday’s do-or-die semi-finals, formidable Altay showcased a dose of grit through sensational blocking and a potent blend of attack and defence to win a hard-fought four-set thriller 25-20 21-25 25-15 25-22 against the Iran’s Super League winners Saipa, making one step closer to winning their historic gold medal and simultaneously handing the well-established opponents the crucial loss which forced the determined rivals to crash out of the title race.
Aside from vying for their maiden victory in the Asian Women’s Club Championship, Nakhon Ratchasima and Altay will also fight it out for the lone berth on offer for the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in Ankara, Turkey from December 15 to 19, 2021.
“During the second set, we had a problem with our reception and Saipa put pressure on us with their very good defense and effective block in that moment. But right after that, we kept focused and still managed to win this very difficult, but important match for us,” Altay head coach Serbian Marko Grsic said.
In the Thursday’s final showdown, Altay are due to take on Nakhon Ratchasima, which pulled off a stunning 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 win against powerhouses Supreme Chonburi, successive two-time Asian Club winners in 2017 and 2018 and silver medallists at the previous edition in China two years ago, in the other semi-final encounter.
Nakhon Ratchasima head coach Thanakit Inleang said after the match, “I think we have done a very good job. Supreme have a strong defensive game, which allowed us scoring difficulties. We displayed our good blocks today and my team have perfect coordination and communication inside the court. Overall, I think we achieved our goal by progressing to the final. In the final match tomorrow against Altay, it will be a challenging one for us since they have good service and good counter-attacks. We need to prepare ourselves for an aggressive fight tomorrow.”
Nataphon Srisamutnak, Supreme Chonburi head coach said, “I would like to congratulate Nakhon Ratchasima on their success as a representative of Thailand to compete in the final. They have good attacking and solid defence while we are weak on our blocks. We have another match tomorrow with Saipa. Even though we have beat them before, I don’t think we can underestimate them because they have an excellent performance and are coming much stronger.”
As Nakhon Ratchasima will go up against Altay in the final showdown, the two semi-final losers, Saipa and Supreme Chonburi, will battle it out for bronze medal in the third-place playoff.
Meanwhile, the 5th-8th playoff matches earlier saw Choco Mucho produce a comeback 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17) win against Rebisco in the all-Philippine affair to next fight for the 5th place against Zhetysu, another team from Kazakhstan.
Winning their first victory in this championship, Choco Mucho showed their great team spirit and improved performance, leaving lacklustre Rebisco to return with the bottom 7th place with no winning record.
“This is a good chance for us to play for the 5th and we wanted this win but personally in my heart, I did not want Rebisco to lose the match. My players have more experience and I expect them to perform better. We played against Zhetysu in the preliminaries and went down in straight sets. I think, if my players show quality and play their best, we can avenge the loss to Zhetysu tomorrow,” said Choco Mucho head coach Arthur Odjie Mamon.
“The girls always know how to pick themselves up. This is really important. Inside the match, you are always going for improvement. For sure we will be really preparing for the next battle and do our best always,” said Rebisco head coach Brazilian Jorge Edson.
MATCH RESULTS
MATCH SCHEDULE
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