Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, April 26, 2023 – Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force, which captured the Thailand League for consecutive two times 2020/21 and 2021/22, proved too strong for Hip Hing VC to demolish the Hong Kong, China side in a completely lopsided battle 25-8, 25-12, 25-12 for their first victory in the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Vinh Phuc Gymnasium here on Wednesday.
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.
Diamond Food, bronze medallists at the last year’s Kazakhstan-hosted Asian Women’s Club Championship in Semey, went down to the 2021 champions Altay VC from Kazakhstan the previous day. The Thai giants came up with more determination in their second attempts on Wednesday, taking on Hip Hing VC with aims of getting back on track for a place in the top four.
Diamond Food remained strong with the likes of former world-class player and highly-skilled setter Nootsara Tomkom. Powerful hitter Sasipaporn Janthawisut, middle blocker Tichakorn Boonlert, opposite Wipawee Srithong and another middle blocker Kaewkalaya Kamulthala, four of them joined the Thailand national team for the VNL campaign the previous year, also became major forces of the Thai side, which on Wednesday rested the 193cm-tall Serbian Natasa Cikiriz for the whole match.
Hip Hing VC took the very first point in the match from an explosive attack from Pang Wing Nam. The on-going game was closely-contested momentarily, with Diamond Food taking a narrow 3-2 lead. However, after that, the game turned out to be one-way traffic, with Pattiya Juangjan, who replaced Natasa in this match, and Wipawee attacking powerfully to widen it to 9-4 and 10-6.
The rhythm remained with the Thai team as they performed exceptionally for a series of 11 consecutive points to extend the margin to 21-6, thanks to Sasipaporn’s heroics from her terrific jump serves and powerful attacks, Wipawee’s thundering spikes and Thichakorn’s fast attacks. Diamond Food continued their brilliance with consistency and resilience, allowing Hip Hing only one more point from an impressive attack from opposite Chim Wing Lam to wrap up the easy first set 25-8.
The Thai team remained unbeatable in the second set. Fielding the similar lineup, Diamond Food gained the upper hand to take the commanding lead with a 10-point clear at 16-6. Though replaced with some other young talents, Hip Hing still failed to make their mark. On the other hand, Diamond Food played incredibly well in defence, taking control and broke away to grab the comfortable set 25-12.
Hip Hong gathered their courage and fought back hard in the beginning of the third set. Their gallant play paid off impressively when they took a surprise 3-0 lead. Diamond Food stormed back with spectacular spikes from Sasipaporn and Wipawee to catch up with the rivals at 6-6 and from then broke away. At the near end of the set, the Thai team rested their best players and fielded many substitutions including Wiranyupa Inchan, Kanjana Kuthaisong and setter Gullapa Piampongsan to capture the set 25-12, again without much effort.
“I think we played well today, but still made some mistakes, especially when we had to play free balls. We have to work on this problem and prepare for our next match against Khuvsgul Erchim. As far as I’m concerned, they are not tall, but they are very determined to play and fight against the other teams. It should be a good match against them and I think we have another chance of winning,” Diamond Food head coach Kittikun Sri-Utthawong commented after the match.
Hip Hing head coach Wong Suk Yee also expressed her satisfaction over her team’s performance despite the loss. “Diamond Food played very well today. We have learned a lot of things and gained experience from the Thai team. Although we lost to Diamond Food, I’m still happy with my team’s result. As the Thai team are professional club team, we are just amateurs. Some of my players are young students who had trained only 5-6 hours before coming here for the championship. Regarding our next match, I think we will play a good game against Khuvsgul Erchim tomorrow, but our chance of winning is just 50-50.”
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