Indonesia beat Philippines with comeback 3-1 win for third place
Thailand, current world No.15 and consecutive 14-time Southeast Asian (SEA) Games champions, pulled off sensational straight-set win against AVC Challenge Cup winners Vietnam in their last match of the 3rd Southeast Asian Women’s Volleyball League Second Leg at the jampacked 3,000-seater gymnasium inside the Chiang Mai 700th Anniversary Sports Complex on Sunday.
Following the Sunday’s victory, Thailand had already claimed three straight titles in the four-team, round-robin competition, but it was their fifth consecutive win in terms of Legs they had contested. Since the tournament inception in 2019, Thailand clinched the inaugural SEA V. League (formerly Asean Grand Prix), with a clean sweep of the First Leg on home soil in Nakhon Ratchasima and the Second Leg in Santa Rosa, Philippines.
They repeated the similar feat in 2022 with victory in the single-leg edition in Nakhon Ratchasima. In 2023, Thailand still made their mark with a clean sweep of the First Leg in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam and the Second Leg on home soil in Chiang Mai.
Thailand sticked to their lineup shuffle in this year’s two-leg SEA V. League, which served as the tune-up matches for the Thai team in their preparation for three major competitions later this year comprising the 22nd Asian Senior Women’s Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima from August 30 to September 6, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualification Tournament Pool C in Lodz, Poland from September 16 to 24 and the 19th Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Volleyball Tournament in China from September 30 to October 7.
Ahead of their last Second Leg match on Sunday, hosts Thailand stayed atop the standing with 6 points from two consecutive wins without dropping a set to Philippines and Indonesia. Vietnam were hot on the hosts’ heels in second spot with similar 6 points, but Thailand had better sets ratio to capture the pole position. Winless Indonesia and Philippines were trailing in third and fourth places and faced off against each other to determine the third place in the Second Leg on Sunday.
Against Vietnam, the team they had already beaten 3-1 in their last match in Vinh Phuc en route to winning the last week’s First Leg, Thailand remained strong offensively with the likes of Chatchu-on Moksri, Pimpichaya Kokram, Thatdao Nuekjang and hard-hitting Sasipapron Janthawisut in the first set. Vietnam also fielded a strong lineup which routed Philippines 3-1 the previous day with Vi Thi Nhu Quynh, Doan Thi Xuan and Tran Thi Bich Thuy at the helm.
Boosted by boisterous home fans of around 4,000 at the packed competition venue, Thailand exploited their excellent teamwork with combination attacks from Chatchu-on and Sasipapron, terrific jump serves by Sasipapron and Jarasporn Bundasak’s solid blocks for the 25-15 win in the comfortable first set.
As the opening set ended with ease in favor of the host side, it was predicted that the following sets would go the Thailand’s way. However, Vietnam, which also captured the 2023 Asian Women’s Club title under the Sport Center 1’s banner to their name, proved that victory never comes easily.
Thailand’s lineup remained unchanged in the second set, with Chatchu-on and Sasipapron leading the team’s offense. The star-studded team got off to a flying start to capture the commanding lead with a 7-point clear at 14-7 and went on their fine form to extend it to 24-19, badly needing only one more point to take the set.
However, the Vietnamese fought back hard to save four set points to narrow the margin at 23-24 including one from Tran Thi Bich Thuy’s thundering fast spike and another one from Vi Thi Nhu Quynh’s exceptional back-row attack. Sasipapron saved the day for Thailand as she hammered a kill to help the team win the hard-fought set 25-23, much to the home fans’ delight.
Both sides played neck and neck from the beginning of the third set which saw neither side lead with a more than two-point gap. Leading narrowly 14-13, Thailand found their touch a moment later to score three points on the trot to stretch it to 17-13 before Vietnam clawed their way back to catch them at 22-22.
However, their strong fightback was short-lived as Thailand shone through their brilliance with a spectacular series of three consecutive points for the set win 25-22, with Jarasporn and Chatchu-on effectively blocking a thundering mid-court attack from Vi Thi Nhu Quynh to hand the host side the last point.
Chatchu-on Moksri scored a match-high 26 points from 20 attacks, 4 blocks and 2 aces for Thailand, while Sasipapron Janthawisut and Ajcharaporn Kongyot added another 10 and 8 points respectively. Vi Thi Nhu Quynh delivered 20 points including 19 attacks from 39 attempts on Vietnam’s loss.
The Thailand’s dominance was also visible in the match stats as the winners dominated in kills (44 to 38), blocks (12 to 7) and aces (9 to 2). However, Vietnam benefited from more opponent errors (13 to 10).
Meanwhile, the first match between Indonesia and Philippines earlier saw the former still prove a class above the latter. At the First Leg in Vinh Phuc, Indonesia demolished Philippines in straight sets to pick up bronze medal, but the Second Leg in Chiang Mai, Philippines performed much better than what they did last week, allowing the Indonesians attacking difficulties.
However, though Philippines mounted a strong challenge, Indonesia stayed in control to pull off dramatic comeback 3-1 win to maintain their third place and bronze medal.
Philippines, fielding the similar lineup including Mhicaela Belen, the UAAP Season 84 Rookie-MVP, and Alyssa Solomon, Best Opposite Spiker, regained the lead at 17-15 in the first set and sprang a surprise to win the thrilling battle 25-22.
Ratri Wulandari, Siti Nur Fadhilah Wilda and Stiovany Yoku Mediol were the Indonesian comebacks, with Ratri unleashing a barrage of powerful attacks and the 181cm Wilda overcoming the smaller blockers with her fast spikes to steer Indonesia to 25-21, 25-22 wins in the next two sets.
The fourth set became a tough duel as both sides traded attacks from the beginning of the set. Philippines led initially 19-17 and continued their impressive run, with Evangeline Alinsug producing a successful first-tempo attack to extend the lead to 23-22 before Belen and the 190cm Alexis Miner effectively blocked an aggressive attack from Suci Nurfadila Aulia to hand Philippines the set point.
In fact, the Filipinas stood a chance of winning the set for another comeback in the decider, but things turned sour for them as they let the win slip through their fingers. Indonesia put their acts together to score four consecutive points to capture the set 26-24 and match.
Ratri Wulandari chipped in with 16 points, all from powerful attacks, for the Indonesia’s victory. Siti Nur Fadhilah Wilda and Stiovany Yoku Mediol kept good company to contribute 13 and 10 points respectively. Alyssa Solomon scored a team-high 23 points including 21 attacks from 48 attempts on Philippines’ loss.
After action-packed three days, hosts Thailand topped the standing with 9 points from three straight wins to reign supreme, while Vietnam finished second with 6 points from two wins against one loss. Indonesia secured the third place with one win against two losses, with winless Philippines in fourth position.
MATCH RESULTS AND FINAL RANKING
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