Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, June 21, 2024 – China and Japan respectively demolished Thailand and Chinese Taipei in straight sets on Friday to become the only two unbeaten teams in the 15th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship at Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium, but four of them secured their places in the much-anticipated semifinals.
Contesting their last matches on the last day of the Classification Round 1-8, Kazakhstan downed Uzbekistan 3-1 (27-25, 18-25, 25-12, 25-17) and China overpowered Thailand 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 25-9) in Pool E, while Korea demolished Iran 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-11) and Japan outclassed Chinese Taipei 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-16) in Pool F.
At the end of the Round 1-8 playoffs on Friday, formidable China topped Pool E with 9 points from three straight wins without dropping a single set to their respective rivals, while Thailand finished second with 6 points form two wins against one loss. Kazakhstan came in third place with 3 points from one win against two losses, with winless Uzbekistan on the bottom fourth of Pool E with no point earned.
Japan captured the top spot in Pool F with 8 points from three wins in a row, while Chinese Taipei finished second place with 6 points from two wins against one loss. Korea came in third position with 4 points from one win against two losses, with Iran in fourth place with no point claimed from three straight losses.
With only top two teams from each pool advancing, China and Thailand from Pool E and Japan and Chinese Taipei from Pool F not only secured their places in the semifinals, but are guaranteed their places at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship.
On Friday at Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium, hosts Thailand, which captured the last week’s 22nd “Princess Cup” Women’s U18 Southeast Asian Championship to their name and fresh from beating Kazakhstan 3-1 in the previous match on Thursday, faced a difficult situation in their clash against the mighty China, former four-time champions, in Pool E.
However, despite putting up a brave fight against the much stronger Chinese, whose height average is 185cm against the hosts’ 177cm, Thailand found the visitors too strong offensively to go down in straight sets 21-25, 22-25, 9-25, their first loss in this championship.
China fielded a formidable lineup led by powerful hitters Zhai Yurui and opposite Yang Shuming, while Thailand relied mostly on the key players who played vital parts in the team’s victories in previous…
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