Indonesia made it two in succession in the Southeast Asian Men’s Volleyball League (SEA V. League) Second Leg at the City of Santa Rosa Multi-Purpose Complex in Laguna after 3-0 win against hosts Philippines on Saturday to next face off against Thailand in their last match which will determine the eventual winners.
World No.68 Indonesia, defending and successive three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medallists fresh from winning the first leg title on their home soil at Padepokan Voli Jenderal Polisi Kunarto Gymnasium in Jakarta last week, got their second leg campaign off to a flying start on Friday with dramatic 3-1 victory against Vietnam.
On Saturday, Indonesia sealed their second win in the three-day, round-robin tournament following their exceptional 25-20, 25-22, 25-20 victory against Philippines.
Dimas Saputra, who tallied massive 22 points, with 21 kills and one block in their previous match against Vietnam, Farhan Halim and Hendra Kurniawan remained major forces in helping lift Indonesia the straight-set victory.
Despite putting up a brave fight against the formidable Indonesians, Philippines, powered by Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo, regarded as two of the country’s top spikers, and rising star Steven Charles Rotter, who landed the Best Opposite Spiker in the first leg, found the visitors too hot to handle to succumb to two losses in a row in front of their home fans at the venue.
The Philippines, which lost them all in the first leg to return with the fourth place, will seek their first win on home soil on Sunday, the final day of the tournament, when they are set to have their last clash against Vietnam, the team they lost in grueling five sets in the first leg.
Meanwhile, Vietnam, which suffered their first loss 1-3 to Indonesia on Monday, had their sights firmly set on winning the Saturday’s match against Thailand, which fielded their second string as their strongest squad are in Qatar for the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup.
Against Thailand, spearheaded by experienced seniors including Wanchai Tabwises and Nantawut Taengkrathok and U21 star spikers including Jakkrit Thanomnoi and Supakorn Jenthaisong, Vietnam made a strong start to take the first two sets 25-20, 25-19.
The third set saw Thailand improve on their defence with a spectacular series of consecutive points, thanks to Jakkrit’s exceptional attacks and their effective blocks, to catch up at 23-23. The Vietnamese had a chance to end the Thai challenge within three sets as they moved ahead for the set point 24-23, needing only one more point to capture the set and match. However, they just let the golden opportunity slip through their fingers.
With their backs against the wall, Thailand didn’t give up easily as they bounced back aggressively to level it at 24-24, 26-26 and again at 28-28. Duong Van Tien carried out an erratic service to hand Thailand a point lead and the AVC Challenge Cup winners went on to win the hard-fought set 30-28.
Winning one set boosted their confidence and Thailand came up with tremendously-improved form in the fourth set. They took a commanding lead with a six-point clear at 21-15 and moments later stretched it to 24-18. Vietnam hit back to save three set points to narrow the margin to 21-24 before Jakkrit Chantrai tipped over the Vietnamese blocker for the Thailand’s 25-21 win to force the tie-breaker.
It turned out to be a hard-fought duel in the decider as both teams played neck and neck to level it at 7-7. However, Vietnam pulled their game together and played more consistently to surge away with a five-point lead at 14-9 before a powerful attack from Jakkrit went wide. Vietnam took the set 15-9 and match.
After two days, Indonesia stayed atop the standing with 6 points from two straight wins, followed by Thailand with 3 points from one win against one loss. Vietnam are trailing in third place with 2 points from one win against one loss and hosts Philippines finished fourth position with one point from straight two losses.
On Sunday, Indonesia will play their last match against Thailand to determine the eventual winners in the second leg. To win the title, Thailand need a must 3-0 win in the Sunday’s crucial match against Indonesia. In case that the match ends either 3-1 or 3-2 in favor of Thailand, the Indonesians will reign supreme due to the better set ratio.
The other match on Sunday will see Philippines go up against Vietnam.
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