2006 World Championships   More World Championship news       Tournament info: Thailand

Kazakhstan and the Philippines start well in Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand, August 1, 2005 - Kazakhstan and the Philippines registered dramatic wins over respective Thailand and Tonga on the opening day of the Women's World Volleyball Championship first round tournament - Asia Group B in Ratchaburiat in the 4,000-seater Ratchaburi Gymnasium on Monday.

In a closely-contested clash, formidable Kazakhstan pulled off a scintillating come-from-behind 3-1 (24-26 27-25 26-24 25-19) victory over the hosts, while the Filipinas proved too much for Tonga to storm past their inexperienced rivals in straight sets 25-13 25-16 25-15.

Both Kazakhstan and Thailand started strongly in the first set, but the former initially took the narrow lead 16-14, thanks to exceptional spikes by hard-attacking captain Yelena Pavlova. Wilavan Apinyapong and Amporn Yhapa led Thailand's strong comeback as both of them carried out devastating cross-court spikes to help the team tie at 22-22 before capturing the hard-fought set 26-24.

Playing without one of their main players Piyamas Koyjapoh, who injured her right ankle during Sunday afternoon's training session, Thailand still took command in the second set 4-2. However, Kazakhstan bounced back mightily to tie the score at 8-8 and stormed on with superb form to win the close set 27-25.

The hosts initially dominated the third set 20-16, but the formidable Kazakhs regrouped and hit back with hard attacks to draw level at 24-24 and move on to take the see-saw set 26-24. With their confidence sky-high after leading 2-1, Kazakhstan went all-out in the fourth set.

Thailand still had no answer to Pavlova's spectacular spikes, while the Kazakhs did not diminish their appetite for success as they attacked relentlessly to fight back from 3-8 down to tie the score at 14-14 before moving ahead 16-14. Kazakhstan clinched the crucial set 25-19 and the hard-fought match.

It was the Thailand's fourth consecutive loss to Kazakhstan. After suffering the opening loss to the Kazakh in last year's Princess Cup and the Asian Women's Club tournament on home soil, Thailand succumbed to their third loss to the fast-improving rivals last May , playing under the Rahat's banner, in the Asian Women's Club tournament in Vietnam, where they went down 3-1.

With the stunning loss yesterday, Thailand now have their back against the wall since they have to beat the Koreans to make sure of a top-two finish in the five-day meet to ensure a berth for the next year's World Championship finals in Japan.

After the match, Thai head coach Suthichai Chanbunchee admitted that his girls played well, but consistency and concentration were required to win the tough match.

"I think we played well, but their psychology is not good when compared with the rivals," he said. "It's a pity we could not win the second and third sets although we stood a good chance of winning. I think my girls have to work more, especially at the end of each set. They must take more concentration and play cool under pressure. Against the Koreans on Wednesday, I admit that it must be another tough match. However, I think we are ready to give everything. It must be another close match."

"It was a tough match, playing the host team is not an easy job," Kazakhstan head coach Shapran Vyacheslav said. "I think we are fortunate that Piyamas (Koyjapoh) could not join the Thai team since she injured her ankle. If not, we would have found it very difficult to beat Thailand because they are very strong.

"South Korea will be one of the toughest rivals to be reckoned with in this tournament, but I don't think it will be a tough match as we played against Thailand. If I'm not wrong, my girls should beat the Koreans without much effort. I'm sure we could make it to next year's Finals in Japan," he added.

On Tuesday, Tonga go up against Korea and the Philippines take on Kazakhstan, while hosts Thailand have a rest day.