Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 26, 2017 – Thailand made a step closer to capturing their 13th SEA Games title when the world No.16 pulled off a sensational 25-21 25-17 25-17 victory over the Philippines in the semi-finals of the 29th South East Asian Games Women’s Volleyball Championship at the MITEC Hall 11 on Saturday.
Thailand, fresh from claiming silver at the recent Asian Senior Women’s Championship in Manila, the Philippines, completed their pool round-robin preliminaries with remarkable unbeaten record. The convincing straight-set win over the Philippines gave Thailand the 15th title defence in the SEA Games. In the past 14 final showdowns, Thailand captured 12 titles, losing to the Philippines twice in 1985 in Bangkok and 1993 in Singapore. Among the overall 12 titles they have won are eight in succession from 2001 to 2015.
Against the Philippines, the team they had beaten in straight sets in the recent Asian meet in Manila, Thailand fielded a strong line-up led by veteran Pleumjit Thinkaow and young talents Chatchu-on Moksri, Pimpichaya Kokram and Ajcharaporn Kongyot.
The Thai side struggled in the opening set when the Philippines fought back aggressively for the 17-17 equalisers. However, the Thais came up with combination attacks and consistency, with Pleumjit overcoming smaller-built blockers with her lightning-fast spikes and Pimpichaya penetrating the rivals’ defence with her sharp, accurate attacks. Thailand took the hard-fought set 25-21 and went on their superb form to win the remaining two sets with the similar margin 25-17 25-17.
Pleumjit Thinkaow led Thailand with 13 points from 11 kills and one point each in blocking and serving. Pimpichaya Kokram contributed 13 points, all from her deadly attacks. Hatthaya Bamrungsuk produced 3 well-placed serves and Chatchu-on Moksri had 2 kill blocks. Santiago Alyja Daphne topscored 15 points for the Philippines including 10 kills from 37 attempts. Valdez Alyssa Caymo contributed 10 points, all from her powerful attacks.
Thailand set up a final showdown with Indonesia, the team they had beaten in straight sets in the Pool A preliminaries. The Indonesians put it past fighting Vietnam 3-2 in the other semi-final clash on Saturday.
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/
AVC Twitter: click: https://twitter.com/avcvolley
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation