Si Sa Ket, Thailand, July 19, 2016 – Hosts Thailand and Vietnam set up a final showdown at the “Princess Cup” 19th Est Cola South East Asian Women’s U19 Volleyball Championship presented by SMM Sport after brushing off Indonesia and Philippines respectively at Weesomemai Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Both Thailand and Vietnam have yet lost a set in the group round-robin preliminaries, as the former topped Pool A and the latter did likewise in Pool B.

Against Indonesia in the first semi-final encounter on Tuesday, Thailand fielded a strong line-up with the likes of Chutchu-on Moksri and Pimpichaya Kokram, who joined the Thailand national senior team for the recent FIVB World Grand Prix Finals in Bangkok, and also strengthened by powerful attacker Wipawee Srithong. Pertiwi Hangestri led the Indonesia’s challenge.

The host side took the first two sets 25-19 25-7 before Indonesia hit back bravely in the third set. Still, the Thai girls, cheered on by home crowds, played well to foil the visitors’ fightback attempts. Thailand took the set 25-20, match and a final berth.

Chutchu-on Moksri scored a team-high 21 points for Thailand including 14 kills from 28 attempts. She also topped the service skill with seven aces. Wipawee Srithong added 14 on attacks and 3 on blocks. Pertiwi Hangestri led Indonesia with only 8 points.

On Wednesday, Thailand will go up against in-form Vietnam, which outclassed the Philippines in straight sets 25-14 25-16 25-18 in the other semi-final match.

Luu Thi Hue top scored with 16 points for Vietnam including 11 deadly spikes and 5 blocks, while Jasmine Nabor tallied 14 points for the Philippines.

In the 5th-8th playoffs earlier, Australia trounced Singapore 28-26 25-10 25-21, while New Zealand won a match against Malaysia 25-0 25-0 25-0 as the rivals were not present on court according to the match schedule.

TUESDAY’S RESULTS

5th-8th PLAYOFFS

Australia b Singapore 3-0 (28-26 25-10 25-21)

New Zealand b Malaysia 3-0 (25-0 25-0 25-0)

SEMI-FINALS

Thailand b Indonesia 3-0 (25-19 25-7 25-20)

Vietnam b Philippines 3-0 (25-14 25-16 25-18)

MATCH SCHEDULE

JULY 20

9am: 7th-8th playoff: Malaysia v Singapore

11am: 5th-6th playoff: New Zealand v Australia

1pm: Third-place playoff: Philippines v Indonesia

4pm: Championship match: Thailand v Vietnam