Ninh Binh, Vietnam, June 30, 2017 – Thailand’s Air Force VC ended their pool preliminaries at the SMM 2017 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Ninh Binh Gymnasium with a comfortable straight-set 25-15 25-9 25-21 win over Maldivian Sports & Recreation Club on Friday.
Both teams have already failed to qualify to the round of the last eight teams after succumbing successive two defeats to Japan’s Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza and China’s Beijing Baic Motor in their previous matches in Pool D.
Air Force VC had 4 points from one win against two losses, while Maldivian Sports & Recreation Club had no points from straight three losses. Both sides, however, have been relegated to the 9th-13th classification round.
Displaying superb form with powerful serves and solid blocks, Air force VC dominated the first two sets to effortlessly win 25-15, 25-9. However, the unfancied rivals started to play much better in the third set to take an initial lead.The game became more exciting when the leads changed hands for several times, but at the near end of the set, the Thai club captured crucial points and took advantage of their opponents’ errors, capturing the set 25-21 and their first victory in this top-flight tournament.
Kantapat Koonmee topscored for Air Force VC with 10 points, while Pusit Phonarin added 9 points. Sajid Ismail led Maldivian Sports & Recreation Club with only 7 points from 6 spikes and 1 kill block.
“Today we rested some key players but gave the bench players a chance to play and gain experience. Overall, I am not satisfied with my players’ performance today. They still have to learn more tactically and technically. We still have something to improve and adjust,” Air Force VC’s head coach Padejsuk Vannachok commented after the match.
“At first, we set our goal to qualify to the round of the last eight teams, but unfortunately we were in a tough draw. We will try our best to finish ninth in the classification round,” he added.
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