2006 World Championships   More World Championship news       Tournament info: Thailand

Kazakhstan and South Korea win on second day

Bangkok, Thailand, August 2, 2005 - South Korea and Kazakhstan registered scintillating wins on the second day of the 2006 Women's World Volleyball Championship first round tournament - Asia Group B in the 4,000-seater Ratchaburi Gymnasium, with the Koreans allowing Tonga only 13 points to annihilate their
inexperienced rivals in a totally one-sided battle.

The Korean girls, who finished a disappointing ninth out of 12 teams in the recent World Grand Prix, were spearheaded by hard-attacking Choi Kwang-Hee. Courtesy of the impenetrable defence and devastating spikes, the Koreans, who also finished in sixth place at the 2002 World Championship and fifth at last year's Olympic Games, proved too much for hapless Tonga, whose squad had only four days preparation for the tournament. As expected, the Koreans effortlessly thrashed their lesser-skilled rivals in straight sets 25-4 25-4 25-5 in just 45 minutes.

Kazakhstan, who stunned hosts Thailand with a scintillating come-from-behind 3-1 victory on Monday, continued their unbeaten run by disposing of the Philippines in three sets. After going down tamely in the opening set 16-25, the Filipinas tightened their defence, giving the Kazakhs tough times to score. Leading narrowly 15-13 in the second set, Kazakhstan never looked back and captured the most thrilling set 25-19. The third set was hotly-contested as the Philippines performed superbly to foil Kazakhstan's spiking attempts and lead 15-11. Kazakhstan came back strongly to tie the score at 19-19 before moving on to win the hard-fought set 25-22 and the match.

On Wednesday, the host side play South Korea in a must-win match for both sides as they try to finish in the top two and win a berth in next year's World Championship finals. Thailand has taken part in the star-studded World Championship finals twice. In the 1998 World Championship in Japan, Thailand finished in joint 13th with the US, Germany and Kenya. Four years later, the Thai girls performed below-par to return with a 17th place finish in the World Championship in Germany. Whether Thailand can make the cut in the finals three times in a row is something to be proven.

Also in action on Wednesday will be Kazakhstan against Tonga. With a likely win over South Korea on Thursday, Kazakhstan, who are expected to power past Tonga in straight sets, will then be assured of a place in the next year's finals in Japan.