Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, January 7, 2020 – Kazakhstan, Korea and the hosts Thailand all boosted a 3-0 win over their rivals respectively on the opening day of 2020 AVC Women’s Tokyo Volleyball Qualification here at Chartchai Hall.
In the opening match, Captain Safronova Alessya kept a good company with her teammates and scored a match-high 12 points, helping Kazakhstan breeze past Iran in a comfortable 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-14) victory.
“Of course we are very happy to win our first match of the tournament. We had a nervous start but we tried to keep cool and everything was going well for us. Overall, it was a good match for us.” said Alessya Safronova.
“The first match of a tournament is always difficult, but my team performed really well today. I gave a chance to my veteran players today. We didn’t expect a match like this, so I am very happy with the way my team did today. The remaining matches will be even more difficult for us. Tomorrow we play against Indonesia – we have to study their play against Korea today. We will try our best to win.” said Kazakhstan head coach Canbolat Burhan Saik.
In the second encounter, Korea only met some troubles at the beginning as they could not get used to the quick and diverse play of Indonesia but they soon found their rhythm back and cruised to a straight-set 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-9) victory.
Star player captain Kim Yeon Koung registered a match-high 12 points for Korea including 5 spikes, 3 blocks and remarkable 4 aces. Lee Jaeyeong and Kim Su Ji followed to contribute 10 and 9 points respectively. Hangestri Pertiwi Megawati only scored team-high 6 points for Indonesia.
“Indonesia did a very good job in the first set especially on attacks. But we tried to play our own game and put more pressure on them with our effective services and attacks in the second and third sets, so I am very happy to win in three sets.” said Kim Yeon Koung.
“This is actually a very important tournament for us because we played in London and Rio so this will be the third Olympics for me if I can qualify. I was waiting for this the whole year and now I have to push myself and my team as it is really important for me, my team and my country.” she added.
In the third match, the hosts Thailand had a slow start in each set but finally
came back to a convincing 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-16) victory over Chinese Taipei.
Kongyot Ajcharaporn highlighted the night with a match-high 17 points for Thailand followed by Moksri Chatchu-On with 12. Captain Chang Li-Wen also scored remarkable team-high 15 points for Chinese Taipei, but their inferiority in blocking and over-many mistakes resulted in the straight-set loss.
“I am very happy that we could beat them, but it was not easy at all. We can see our weaknesses and what we have to improve more today. They did a pretty good job in serving and defense which made our attacks reduce in efficiency. We also have to adjust our service reception in the next matches.” said Thailand team captain Nootsara Tomkom.
The second day of pool round-robin preliminaries will see Indonesia take on Kazakhstan and Iran challenge Korea in Pool B while Australia make their debut against Chinese Taipei in Pool A. The hosts Thailand will have a bye Wednesday. Only top two teams from each pool will advance to the crosswise semi-finals. The final showdown will be held on January 12th to decide who will get the Daruma and the only ticket to Tokyo.
Nakhon Ratchasima is commonly known as Korat, a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat of the Nakhon Ratchasima Province and Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima District. Name after former Prime Minister of Thailand, Chatichai Choonhavan, the 5,000-seated Chartchai Hall was built for the Southeast Asian Games in 2007 and also once held the FIVB Volleyball Nations League in 2018 as the home court for Thailand Women’s Team.
Competition Schedule & Result:
January 7, 2020
Iran vs Kazakhstan 0-3 (14-25, 16-25, 14-25)
Korea vs Indonesia 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-9)
Chinese Taipei vs Thailand 0-3 (16-25, 21-25, 16-25)
January 8, 2020
13:00 Indonesia vs Kazakhstan
15:30 Korea vs Iran
18:00 Australia vs Chinese Taipei
January 9, 2020
13:00 Iran vs Indonesia
15:30 Kazakhstan vs Korea
18:00 Thailand vs Australia
January 10, 2020
Rest day
January 11, 2020
15:30 Semifinal 1
18:00 Semifinal 2
January 12, 2020
15:30 Finals 3-4
18:00 Finals 1-2
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