Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, January 9, 2020 – Korea maintained their unbeaten record to top Pool B following a convincing 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-21) victory over Kazakhstan while the hosts Thailand continued their winning streak to top Pool A after sweeping Australia 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-13) in the last round of pool round-robin preliminaries at the 2020 AVC Women’s Tokyo Volleyball Qualification here at Chartchai Hall Thursday.
In Pool A, Chinese Taipei rank the second place with 1 win and 1 loss record, followed by winless Australia. In Pool B, Kazakhstan tasted their maiden failure and position the second place with 2 wins and 1 loss record, while Indonesia finished the third place following a five-set thriller victory over Iran.
In the semifinals, Chinese Taipei will take on undefeated Korea while Kazakhstan will challenge the hosts Thailand. Australia, Indonesia and Iran have to say goodbye to the Tournament going home.
In the first match of the day, Indonesia edged past Iran in a five-set thriller 3-2 (25-21, 25-15, 21-25, 22-25, 15-12) to claim their maiden victory in their last match of the AVC Women’s Tokyo Volleyball Qualification tournament.
Nuari Purnama Arsela bagged a match-high 24 points for Indonesia followed by Wulandari Ratr and Hangestri Pertiwi Megawati with 19 and 18 each, while Ashofteh Mona scored team-high 18 points for Iran.
“We didn’t have any pressure before the match. In the first two sets we played well with good teamwork but in the next two sets our game slowed down and we let our opponents come back to their game. But in the fifth set we trusted each other again and won the set.” said Indonesia captain Mutiara Lutfi Tri Retno.
“After this we will go back to our country for the volleyball league season. I would like to thank the Thai fans who came to cheer for us. It was a good experience for our team to play in this tournament.” she added.
“I think my players did a good job today and they are getting better and better day by day. We and Indonesia team are at the same level, but Indonesia have more experience than us.” said Iran head coach Mitra Shabanian.
“In the first two sets we couldn’t play well and after that we came back to the match and won the next two sets. In the fifth set we lost because our young
players lacked experience. We are very happy to compete in this tournament and we can pick up good experience. We hope to have better performances in the future.” said Iran captain Fallah Elham.
In the second encounter, Lee Jaeyeong packaged a match-high 18 points including 17 spikes and 1 ace to help Korea a convincing 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-21) victory over Kazakhstan.
Kim Su Ji and Kang Sohwi also contributed 12 and 11 points each for Korea, while Kazakhstan’s best scorer Anarkulova Sana registered 13.
Kazakhstan performed several chasing highlights but well-trained Koreans broke away from the entanglement several times with their better team combination.
“Korea are a very strong team. Congratulations on their victory today. I think we didn’t play our best as we made too many mistakes and our blocking didn’t work well. However, I am very happy that my players put up a good fight and tried to win. Now we finished second of the pool and we have to play the top team of another pool. It is going to a very tough match for sure in the next round.” said Kazakhstan head coach Burhan Saik Canbolat.
“I am very happy that all the players really pushed hard today. The bench players did very well in their positions. Now we finished as the first place of the pool and we will prepare for the semifinals. We will try our best for the next game.” said Korea captain Kim Yeon Koung.
“I didn’t have any pressure before the match. We just tried to maintain our level and enjoyed the game as you know it was an important match.” she added.
In the last match, even with their key players on the bench, the hosts Thailand dominated Australia 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-13) within 76 minutes.
Sittirak Onuma completed a match-high 14 points including 11 attacks and 3 aces for Thailand, followed by Kokram Pimpichaya with 12.
The highlight occurred in the second set, seeing both sides trade points until 15-15 tie before Thailand combined attacking with solid blocking to score 10 points in a row to seal the set in 25-15.
The semifinals of 2020 AVC Women’s Tokyo Volleyball Qualification will kick off on Saturday after a rest day. The final showdown will be held Sunday 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
Indonesia vs Kazakhstan 0-3 (22-25, 23-25, 18-25)
Korea vs Iran 3-0 (25-15, 25-9, 25-19)
18:00 Australia vs Chinese Taipei 0-3 (20-25, 18-25, 14-25
January 9, 2020
Iran vs Indonesia 2-3 (21-25, 15-25, 25-21, 26-24, 12-15)
Kazakhstan vs Korea 0-3 (20-25, 16-25, 21-25)
Thailand vs Australia 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-13)
January 10, 2020
Rest day
January 11, 2020
15:30 Korea vs Chinese Taipei
18:00 Thailand vs Kazakhstan
January 12, 2020
15:30 Finals 3-4
18:00 Finals 1-2
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