Thailand crush young Korea to advance to semi-finals

The scintillating ‪25-6 25-12 25-20‬ victory over Korea, whose age average is 18.6 years, moved the Thai team to the semi-finals with a remarkable unbeaten record. However, a daunting task awaits the 2012 champions in the Monday’s semi-finals when they will next go up against defending and three-time champions and world No.1 China.
Against the winless Koreans, who have yet won a single set in the biennial competition, Thailand fielded a fully-fledged team led by superstar spiker Pleumjit Thinkaow, Wilavan Apinyapong, Ajcharaporn Kongyot and Thatdao Nuekjang. Also strengthening the team was powerful hitter Pimpichaya Kokram, who topscored with 12 points for Thailand in their previous encounter against Iran. Lee Young and Yoo Seoyeun were the Korea’s mainstays in this match.
Thailand got off to a brilliant start to lead by wide margin 10-4 in the opening set, thanks to their excellent offensive mobilities from Pleumjit’s lightning-fast spikes and powerful cross-court attacks from Pimpichaya and Ajcharaporn. Korea tried to respond with sharp attacks from Lee Young and Yoo Seoyeun, but their determined attempts were in vain as Pleumjit and setter Pornpun Guedpard combined well to produce solid blocks against their rivals’ attacks. Thailand took the totally one-sided set 25-6.
The second set turned out to be the similar fashion when Thailand led all the way. As the Thai team captured a commanding 20-11 lead, Korea sent in the 189cm-tall Jung Hoyoung, the tournament’s youngest player. The 15-year-old Korean used her height advantage to attack well, but it was not enough to save the day for the team. Thailand went on their onslaughts to win the set 25-12, again without much difficulty.
Going down two straight sets, Korea tried to make a comeback in the third set, but the Thailand’s combination attacks and splendid teamwork proved too much for the hapless rivals. Thailand played comfortably with more relaxed, leaving Korea to seize the chance to hit back and reduce the gap 20-24. After a brief challenge from Korea, Thailand stormed on to capture the set 25-20, match and a spot in the semi-finals. Korea were relegated to the 5th-8th classification round to next take on Chinese Taipei in their first playoff match.
Pleumjit Thinkaow led Thailand with 14 points including 10 kills from 14 attempts. She also led in blocks with 4 points. Lee Young tallied 7 points for Korea including 5 kills and 2 stuff blocks.
“We played systematically according to our training. However, our setter made some mistakes on passing ball to the wrong direction. We fielded a strong line-up from the first set because we just want our players to get familiar with the court conditions. At the same time, our young players will then have a chance to gain experience. In our semi-final match against China, I admit that a daunting task awaits us. China are very strong with powerful attacks and solid blocking. To match them tactically is not that easy. We have to adjust our tactics and techniques when we face the real situations in the match. I cannot say how many percents of chances we can beat the Chinese, but we just try to do our best one at a time. We have to play our form, refraining from making hasty mistakes,” Thailand’s head coach Danai Sriwacharamethakul commented after the match.