Day 3 Wrap-Up
Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, April 27, 2023 – Hisamitsu Springs suffered another setback after stunning loss to hosts Sport Center 1 and Liaoning Donghua stopped Altay’s remarkable run on action-packed Day 3 of the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the 3,000-seater Vinh Phuc Gymnasium, as Khuysgul Erchim celebrated debutantes Mongolia’s first-ever win since the tournament inception in 1999.
Cheered on lustily by home crowds at the packed venue, Vietnam’s Sport Center 1, powered by devastating Tran Thai Thanh Thuy and young star Vi Thi Nhu Quynh, 21, added another agony to the same wounds of Hisamitsu Springs on Thursday.
Going down in hard-fought five-setter to in-form King Whale Taipei in their first clash the previous day, the 2002 and 2014 Asian Women’s Club champions and winners at the Japan’s 2021/22 V. League Division 1 were sent packing by the formidable Vietnamese counterparts in dramatic four sets 20-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-25.
Following their two straight losses in Pool A, Hisamitsu Springs now have a slim chance of making the cut for the top four. Pool A featured only four teams, Hisamitsu Springs, King Whale Taipei, Sport Center 1 and Iran’s Paykan. With only top two teams through to the cross semifinals, Hisamitsu Springs find it very, very difficult to advance to that round.
Claiming only one point from their first match which they lost 2-3 to King Whale Taipei, Hisamitsu Springs now have only one match left against Paykan in the pool round-robin preliminaries.
Sport Center 1, on the other hand, were on cloud nine as they have brightened up chances of making the top four as they have already bagged 5 points from two wins in a row including their thrilling 3-2 clash against Paykan and will fight it out with King Whale Taipei on Saturday, the last day of the preliminaries. The strong team from Chinese Taipei kicked off their campaign with a hard-fought five-set win against Hisamitsu Springs. They are due to take on Paykan on Friday and look set for a tough match against hosts Sport Center 1 the following day.
Meanwhile, in the Pool B encounters on Thursday, China’s Liaoning Donghua VC, fresh from exceptional straight-set win against Khuvsgul Erchim on the first day, pulled off an upset win against Altay VC to power past the 2021 champions from Kazakhstan in sensational straight sets 25-19, 25-22, 25-21.
Against Liaoning Donghua, the team finishing 7th at Chinese V. League in the current 2022/23 season, Altay played a far cry from what they had done in their difficult encounter against Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force which saw them come from behind to stun the former consecutive two-time Thailand League champions with a magnificent comeback 3-2 win.
Altay’s outsider and captain Sana Anarkulova, who landed the MVP Award in 2021 and the Best Outside Hitter in 2022, admitted that Liaoning Donghua prepared well for the match against her team, citing that Altay did not play well in some elements including disappointing attacking and blocks which caused her team dear for the loss. However, she is upbeat that her team will make a comeback in the remaining preliminary match against Hip Hing VC from Hong Kong, China on Saturday.
Despite the Altay’s stunning loss to Liaoning Donghua on Thursday, the opportunity is still open for five participating teams in Pool B to fight for the two spots on offer in the semifinals. Liaoning collected 6 points from two straight wins and have two matches remaining in the pool play against Hip Hing and Diamond Food. Liaoning Donghua became the only unbeaten team without dropping a set to their respective rivals in this topflight club championship.
Altay had already played three matches to collect 5 points, winning two consisting of one in 3-2 against Diamond Food and another one in straight sets against Khuvsgul Erchim and losing their third match in straight sets to Liaoning Donghua.
Diamond Food hold a 1-1 win-loss record for 4 points earned, losing 2-3 to Altay in their opening match and winning in straight sets against Hip Hing the following day. The Thai team are due to take on Mongolia on Friday and go up against Liaoning Donghua the next day.
Earlier, Khuvsgul Erchim, the Mongolia’s first team-ever in the history of the Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship since the tournament inception in 1999, overpowered Hip Hing VC 3-1 (22-25, 25-9, 25-20, 25-17) to register their first win in the 2023 edition in Vinh Phuc.
Both teams have yet won a match in the championship and had their fingers crossed that the possible win in their match on Thursday would be a real taste of first win.
Khuvsgul Erchim VC had already succumbed to two straight losses comprising 0-3 to Liaoning Donghua and another 0-3 to Altay, while Hip Hing VC from Hong Kong, China went down in straight sets to the much stronger Diamond Food, the former consecutive two-time Thailand League winners.
Khuvsgul Erchim head coach Kherlen Batdorj expressed her great delight, citing that the biggest credit for the team’s success goes to all players in the team. She said that both sides played in the same level, but her team trained very hard in the past 6 months in preparation for this championship and tried their best to win some matches in Vinh Phuc.
“We are very happy to learn that this is the first victory of Mongolia in the history of Asian Women’s Club Championship. I have to thank all my players for their best efforts. We next play Diamond Food from Thailand. They are very strong team and to play them, we have to reduce our own unforced mistakes,” she was quoted as saying in the interview with AVC.
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