Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, July 4, 2022 – Thailand, fresh from winning the last week’s “21st Princess Cup” AVC Women’s Challenge Cup at home, opened their bid in the 21st Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship with 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-15) against Iran in Pool A of the Preliminary Round at the NU Sports Centre on Monday evening.
Captain Donphon Sinpho sparked the Thai offence, as she unleashed impressively from the left side, playing consistently throughout the match. She proved her merit in both passing and attacking, even against the taller Iran team.
“We were just so excited to play this match, even if we were facing very tall players. We had some mistakes, but we tried to communicate within the team in order to make our way to victory,” said Donphon.
It was clear that Iran’s line-up, averaging 182 cm, was putting much pressure on Thailand’s hitters.
However, Thailand proved quick to react to vary their offence, unleashing off-speed hits, utilizing the pipe attack, or improvising with just about anything to throw off their opponents’ rhythm and momentum in block defence. They generally played better in transition, which Iran needed to improve on.
Iran tried to show better grip of their rhythm, improving in variety and mastery of their offence. They also performed better from the service line, giving occasional difficulty to the Thais’ passing unit.
Mahdieh Rahimizare and Roya Farrokhi each contributed 10 points to lead Iran’s scoring charge
Iran needed the consistency in order to maintain the quality of their play, but this was an aspect that they were unable to manage. Their error count, mostly in crucial plays, also spelled the difference.
Meanwhile, Thailand, even after running into their own share of errors, were quick to recover and regain their momentum. They capitalised on their service skills, which left their opponents with much challenge to effectively orchestrate a good, consistent system.
Thailand’s Donphon completed the match with a total of 17 points, leading all scorers on the board. Fellow outside hitter Ampha Sonsurat also stood out in the match, as she helped along with 11 points.
“I think everyone in this team is a captain, a leader. In this way, we are responsible to help one another in every single point. When someone feels down, someone can become the captain, not just me, to lift up that player’s spirit,” added Donphon.
On Tuesday, July 5, 2022, Thailand will meet Korea at 15:00 PM, while Iran will face hosts Kazakhstan in the main event at 17:30 PM. All times local.
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