Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, April 28, 2023 – Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force brushed off Khuvsgul Erchim in comfortable straight sets 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 to bag their second win in the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Vinh Phuc Gymnasium here on.
Diamond Food fielded a strong lineup led by the 193cm-tall opposite Serbian Natasa Cikiriz, highly-skilled Nootsara Tomkom and hard-attacking Sasipaporn Janthawisut in the first set against Khuvsgul Erchim, the Mongolia’s first team ever which had already beaten Hip Hing 3-1 on Thursday. The Thai team enjoyed mixed lucks in their first two matches with stunning 2-3 loss to the 2021 champions Altay VC from Kazakhstan and 3-0 win against Hip Hing VC from Hong Kong, China,
Diamond Food made a solid start to dominate the opening set. Natasa and Sasipaporn tore the Mongolian defence apart with their spectacular attacks, with the former using her height advantage to overcome the smaller blockers and the latter firing aggressive spikes. The Thai team took an early lead 12-6, remained in fine form to extend it to 22-11 and took the first set without much effort 25-14.
The second set was briefly closely-contested when Khuvsgul Erchim bounced back from the first-set loss with attacks from opposite Bayanjargal Jigjidkhorol and middle blocker Khandsuren Gantogtokh to trail Diamond Food narrowly at 6-5, 8-7 and 12-11. After that, the Thai side turned things around and Natasa’s and Kanjana Kuthaisong’s attacks made the big difference in the rest of the set. They stormed on to win the comfortable set 25-16 to stretch the lead to 2-0.
Sure of another comfortable win in the third set, Diamond Food fielded several substitutions including Wipawee Srithong, Kaewkalaya Kamulthala and Pattiya Jangjan, but Khuvsgul Erchim taught them the best things in life are never easy. The Mongolians came back much stronger in this set as they did not fear the Thai counterparts and instead mounted a strong challenge against the tough opponents.
The score was leveled at 5-5 and again 10-10 before Khuvsgul Erchim counter-attacked well to put the team up front 12-10. As the game was tight, Diamond Food struggled when the Mongolians struck back with attacks to narrow the margin. They trailed the Thai team 15-17 and again 18-19, thanks to their solid defence and the will to win.
As Diamond Food took a narrow lead with a two-point clear at 22-20, Khuvsgul Erchim improved on their defence and good attacks for a reduced gap 21-23. However, their challenge did not last long when the Thai team came up with more aggression and determination to bag two points in a row for the set win 25-21 and match.
Natasa Cikiriz chipped in with 17 points including 15 attacks for Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force, while no player from Khuvsgul Ergim scored double-digits, with Bayanjargal Jigjidkhorol bagging 8 points on the team’s losing effort.
Despite the win, Diamond Food head coach Kittikhun Sri-Utthawong was not so happy with his girls’ performance. “We did not play well, especially in the third set. We were not in our best form. I think my players expected to perform better in tougher situations and as a result, they made more mistakes. We have to study this problem and make things clear ahead of our tough match against Liaoning Donghua the following day.”
The Thai team claimed 7 points from two wins against one loss and are due to take on the Chinese side on Saturday, the last day of the pool play. Khuvsguil Erchim had completed their first-round campaign, collecting 3 points from one win against three losses.
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