Tay Ninh, Vietnam, April 30, 2017 – Former Asian Club champions Bangkok Glass VC from Thailand underlined their supremacy over the 11th VTV9-Binhdien Cup International Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the Tay Ninh Gymnasium following a dramatic 25-23 22-25 25-15 25-22 victory over Vietnam’s Binhdien Long An in the final showdown on Sunday night.
Bangkok Glass, strengthened by three Thailand national players led by superstar spiker Pleumjit Thinkaow and talented setter Pornpun Guedpard, made history when they became the first ever Thai club that captured the Asian Club crown over Hisamitsu Springs of Japan in a five-set thriller in Ha Nam, Vietnam in 2015.
Bangkok Glass, known as the Rabbit Women in Thailand, lost only one match to 4.25 Sport Club in their Pool B preliminary match. However, despite the 1-3 loss to the DPR Korea team, the BGVC finished second in Pool B to take on Pool A winners Yunnan U.Dianchi College from China in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Binhdien Long An also had the similar performance in Pool A, going down 1-3 to Yunnan U.Dianchi College to finish second in the pool. Binhdien Long An went up against Pool B winners 4.25 Sport Club.
In the Saturday’s semi-finals, formidable Bangkok Glass pulled off a stunning straight-set 25-14 25-17 25-19 win over Yunnan U.Dianchi College to next set up a final clash against Binhdien Long An, which overpowered 4.25 Sport Club 25-20 25-23 25-21.
Against Binhdien Long An in the showdown, Bangkok Glass fielded a strong line-up including Pleumjit Thinkaow, hard-attacking Jutarat Montripila, Sutadta Chuewulim and setter Pornpun Guedpard, while the Vietnamese side also sent in an impressive line-up spearheaded by local best Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa, tall Tran Thi Thanh Thuy and Thai import Wilavan Apinyapong.
Bangkok Glass narrowly beat Binhdien Long An for the hard-fought 25-23 win in the first set, but the Vietnamese side made amends to take the second set 25-22. The Thai team clinched the one-sided battle 25-15 in the third set and continued their winning streak to capture the fourth set 25-22 and the gold-medal match.
Pleumjit Thinkaow scored a match-high 23 points including 19 kills and 2 stuff blocks, while Tran Thi Thanh Thuy led Binhdien Long An with 22 points including 20 kills from 50 attempts. Wilavan Apinyapong contributed 15 points through her attack hits and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa added 3 points through her blocks.
Earlier, Yunnan U.Dianchi College from China produced a fantastic 3-2 (22-25 23-25 27-25 25-18 15-12) comeback victory over 4.25 Sport Club from DPR Korea in the third-place playoff. Fujian from China outclassed Vietin Bank in straight sets 25-17 25-17 25-22 to take the fifth place. Thong tin Lienviet Postbank thrashed Altay of Kazakhstan in straight sets 25-22 25-9 25-13 in the 7th-8th playoff.
FINAL RANKINGS
1. Bangkok Glass (Thailand)
2. VTV-Binhdien Long An (Vietnam)
3. Yunnan U.Dianchi College (China)
4. 4.25 Sport Club (DPR Korea)
5. Fujian (China)
6. Vietin Bank (Vietnam)
7. Thongtin Lienviet Postbank (Vietnam)
8. Altay (Kazakhstan)
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Best Outside Spikers
1. Tran Thi Thanh Thuy (Binhdien Long An)
2. Sun Fang Qiong (Yunnan U.Dianchi College)
Best Opposite Spikers
1. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa (Binhdien Long An)
2. Pleumjit Thinkaow (Bangkok Glass)
Best Setter
Pornpun Guedpard (Bangkok Glass)
Best Middle Blocker
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa (Binhdien Long An)
Best Libero
Tikamporn Changkeaw (Bangkok Glass)
Most Valuable Player
Jong Jin Sim (4.25 Sport Club)
Miss Volleyball
Dinara Suzdykova (Altay)
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