Powerful left-hander Sutthiphong Donlakkham scored a match-high 28 points to steer Thailand to a winning rematch against Egypt, the team they had beaten 3-1 in Pool A preliminary round earlier, in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship in Carbonia, Italy on Tuesday.
In-form Thailand pulled off a dramatic 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 18-25, 25-23) win against the African champions in the 9th-16th classification round in Pool G on Tuesday. With two straight wins, Thailand, which beat Morocco 3-0 in the previous match, and Iran are assured of finishing top two in Pool G to secure their berths in the 9th-12th classification round, where they are due to next take on Cuba and Canada, the top two teams in Pool H.
Thailand will challenge reigning world champions Iran in their last Pool G match to determine the Pool winners, while Canada and Cuba will also do likewise in Pool H on Wednesday.
In this hard-fought encounter, Sutthiphong Donlakkham topscored with 28 points, all from his devastating attacks, for Thailand. Team-mates Suradech Khamhom added 12 and Khomson Phasi 10 points respectively. Marawan Elnaggar led Egypt with 22 points including 20 attacks and one ace.
Supakorn Jenthaisong, opposite hitter of Thailand, said after the match: “We are so happy! We needed this win so badly! We showed great emotion and determination, and we won! Thank you all for the support!”
Elsayed Abdelrahman, opposite of Egypt: “In general, this tournament is so disappointing to us! We never showed our real game. I hope that the next three matches will be better, and that they will help us to prepare better for the next championship. This is also a good preparation for us, as individual players, for our clubs.”
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