Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, June 29, 2022 – Thailand, represented by their women’s U20 squad, survived a huge scare from India to beat the tough rivals in hard-fought five-set thriller in their final clash of the “21st Princess Cup” 3rd AVC Women’s Challenge Cup at Nakhon Pathom Sports Centre Gymnasium here on Wednesday.
The fantastic 23-25, 25-12, 25-22, 18-25, 15-13 victory lifted Thailand the prestigious Princess Cup which they had landed at the previous edition in 2018 at the same competition site here following the straight-set win against India. The Thai team also repeated the similar feat over the same rivals here at the same competition venue.
The opening set turned out to be a hotly-contested battle when both Thailand and India gave it all-out in their last clash to determine the eventual winners. Amazingly, throughout the thrilling set, the gap between the two sides was not more than 2 points.
Powerful Anushree K.P. overcame the Thai blockers with her exceptional attacks to help India take a narrow 11-9 lead before Thailand fought back hard with combination attacks and consistency. Ampha Sonsurat and Donphon Sinpho penetrated the Indian defence with fierce spikes and scintillating blocks to reduce the gap 17-16.
Inspired by the victory, India maintained their poise. Nirmal blunted the Thai blocking efforts with her powerful blows and Soorya produced lightning-fast spikes to put the visitors in front 23-22 and Anushree was on fire shortly after that as she carried out an aggressive attack to give India a set point. Ampha saved the day for the host side through her thundering attack before a devastating spike from Anushree silenced the cheering home fans with the India’s hard-fought 25-23 win in the set.
Conceding one set, Thailand roared back with better teamwork and exceptional tactics. The host team raced to 15-8 lead, thanks to spectacular attacks from Donphon, Ampha and Achirayaphorn Kumjaiboon. India tried hard to score more, but the Thais heightened their defence, allowing the visitors scoring difficulties. Thailand led 20-12 for good and went on their significant run without making any mistake. A gutsy display was handsomely rewarded when the host girls clinched the completely lopsided set 25-12.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going and the Thai girls experienced the same thing. They did not have their staff coaches to teach them by courtside due to unforeseen reasons, but had team officials including physiotherapist to do the duty instead, but they didn’t lose concentration. Thailand jumped to an early 14-9 lead in the third set and stretched it to 20-12 before India gradually pulled their game together and hit back bravely to win five points in a row and narrow the gap 20-17. It turned out to be a catch-me-if-you-can game after that as when Thailand led 23-17, the Indians did not surrender easily and stormed back with mighty attacks to come near 22-24. Fortunately, Ampha again saved the day for the host team as she attacked powerfully and it went without responding. Thailand took the hard-fought set 25-22.
The Indians tried hard to turn the tables on the host side in the fourth set as they produced attacks from all corners of the court to meet Thailand at 8-8 and again 11-11 and maintained their good run to surge away 16-13. As the host team became prone to unforced attacking mistakes, India found their touch and stormed on to win the thrilling set 25-18, forcing the tie-breaker to determine the eventual winners.
In the decider, Thailand’s nerves began to fray at the beginning and India seized the opportunity to take an initial 3-1 lead. Cheered on noisily by a large number of home fans inside the competition site, the Thai girls poured everything they had and their more determination worked out well as they caught the Indians 3-3 and went ahead 8-5. India did not want to give up easily and they bounced back to catch the Thais at 12-12, but the host side still had enough in their tank to hold them off. Thailand allowed India one more point to capture the set 15-13, match and the 21st Princess Cup.
Ampha Sonsurat scored a match-high 37 points from 34 attacks, one block and 2 aces for Thailand, while Donphon Sinpho added 24 points. Nirmal chipped in with 25 points including 23 attacks for India, with Anushree keeping good company to contribute 22 points.
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