Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, June 20, 2024 – Reigning champions Japan survived a huge scare for nail-biting victory against Korea, as China and Chinese Taipei flexed their muscles with convincing straight-set wins to continue their unbeaten streak by not dropping a set to their respective opponents in Round of 8 of the 15th Asian Women’s U18 Volleyball Championship at Nakhon Pathom Gymnasium on Thursday.
The Round of 8 encounters on Thursday saw Thailand pull off dramatic 3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17) victory over Kazakhstan and mighty China outplay Uzbekistan 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-11) in Pool E, while embattled Japan overcame daunting challenge from Korea to beat the determined rivals in hard-fought five-se thriller 25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 25-27, 15-10 and Chinese Taipei powered past Iran 3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 25-18) in Pool F.
As the Round of 8 will come to a conclusion on Friday, only top two teams from Pool E and Pool F will secure their berths in the much-anticipated semifinals which will guarantee four of them the slots to show their wares at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U19 World Championship.
In the Classification Round for 9th-13th places on Thursday, Hong Kong, China demolished Macao, China in a one-sided battle 25-16, 25-9, 25-14 and Philippines downed India in well-fought four-setter 26-24, 15-25, 25-19, 25-22.
Against the formidable Koreans on Thursday, Japan, one of the world’s great teams with the best defence, mixed the exceptional offensive mobility from powerful attacks of two outside hitters, Rion Chuganji and Yuzuki Baba, with solid blocks by middle blocker Ichino Nakagawa for their comfortable wins in the first two sets 25-18, 25-19.
Despite a dismal start to concede two sets in a row, Korea, bronze medallists at the previous edition at the same competition site here two years ago, successfully broke the deadlock which had turned them from a team struggling to live up to the expectations to another strong team to be reckoned with in this topflight championship. With hard-hitting Park Yeoreum and Park Yunseo on fire with aggressive attacks and Kim Jiyoon producing solid blocks, Korea bounced back to take the third set 25-22.
The set win had boosted their confidence and Korea remained in good form defensively and offensively in the fourth set which turned out to be a hotly-contested battle. Leveling at 25-25, Korea played more steadier to seal the hard-fought set 27-25, forcing the tiebreaker to decide the eventual winners.
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