Day 2 Wrap-Up
Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, April 26, 2023 – Formidable King Whale Taipei’s stunning upset win against Hisamitsu Springs highlighted Day 2 of the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Vinh Phuc Gymnasium, as Altay VC and Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force pulled off lopsided wins against Khuvsgul Erchim and Hip Hing VC respectively on Wednesday.
Contesting their preliminary Pool A clash, Hisamitsu Springs, winners at the Japan’s 2021/22 V. League Division 1 and the Empress’ Cup All Japan Championship, are competing in Vinh Phuc with only 11 players. Some key players of the powerful outsets, according to the team head coach Mr Shingo Sakai, are missing the on-going Asian Club Championship here to join the Japan national team for several major competitions this year.
Hisamitsu Springs, which captured the Asian Women’’s Club Championship twice in 2002 and 2014, had a daunting task against King Whale Taipei on Wednesday. The Chinese Taipei side came out full force with one ultimate aim in mind – to make the top podium for the first time ever. In the past, compatriots Chung Shan were within a whisker of winning gold medals in 2005 and 2006, but only managed to return with silver medals. This time, King Whale Taipei, silver medallists at the 2022/23 PVL Invitational Conference in Philippines and gold medallists at the 2022/23 Taiwan Enterprise League, carried the nation’s hopes to make their mark in this topflight club championship.
Hisamitsu Springs, strengthened by outside hitter Megumi Fukazawa and Sae Nakajima, lived up to their expectations and performed well throughout the match, but it was King Whale Taipei, which played much better tactically and technically, bouncing back from the first-set loss to Hisamitsu Springs with a stunning 3-2 (16-25, 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 15-8) upset of the Japanese giants in a hard-fought five-set thriller.
The King Whale Taipei’s dramatic win gave credit to opposite Flavio De Carvalho Beatriz from Brazil, who scored amazing 32 points including 29 attacks and two aces in this closely-contested match, outside hitters Lin Shu-Ho and Wu Fang-Yu, who added 18 and 11 points respectively.
Meanwhile, in Pool B encounters on Wednesday, Altay VC, champions in 2021 and silver medals last year on home soil in Semey, made it two in a row.
Fresh from stunning old foes Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force from Thailand with an epic comeback 3-2 win the previous day, the Kazakh powerhouses proved to be one of the strongest teams to be reckoned with in the eight-day championship in Vinh Phuc.
On Wednesday, Altay powered past debutantes Mongolia’s Khuvsgul Erchim VC with convincing 25-12, 25-9, 25-11 win.
Svetlana Parukova contributed 14 points for Altay including 7 attacks and team-leading 6 aces, while Sana Anarkulova and Valeriya Chumak aded 10 points apiece. No player from Khuvsgul Erchim scored double-digits, with Khandsuren Gantogtokh scoring 4 points on the team’s losing effort in a completely one-sided affair.
Following the loss, the Mongolian side succumbed to two straight losses in Vinh Phuc. On the opening day, Khuvsgul Erchim had already suffered their first loss at the hands of China’s Liaoning Donghua VC.
The other match earlier saw Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force, which captured the Thailand League for consecutive two times 2020/21 and 2021/22 and bronze medallists at the last year’s edition in Semey, Kazakhstan, proved too strong for Hip Hing VC. The Thai counterparts demolished the Hong Kong, China side in another lopsided battle 25-8, 25-12, 25-12 for their first victory.
Sasipaporn Janthawisut and Wipawee Srithong scored 12 points apiece to steer Diamond Food to the convincing three-set win, with the former attacking 8 points plus team-leading 4 aces and the latter 10 attacks and one block. Chim Wing Lam led Hip Hing VC with 10 points including 9 attacks. The Thai team rested Natasa Cikiriz for the whole match and replaced the 193cm-tall Serbian with another hard-attacking Pattiya Juangjan.
Diamond Food also fielded many substitutions in this match including Wiranyupa Inchan, Kanjana Kuthaisong and setter Gullapa Piampongsan to gain experience and exposure from this international competition.
On Thursday, the third day of the pool round-robin preliminaries, Altay VC set up a tough clash with China’s Liaoning Donghua VC, which had a rest day on Wednesday. Hong Kong, China’s Hip Hing VC will take on Khuvsgul Erchim from Mongolia, both teams seeking their first win in this championship. The day’s last match could be another highly-anticipated encounter with hosts Vietnam’s Sport Center 1 going up against Japan’s Hisamitsu Springs.
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