Indonesia beat Philippines with comeback 3-1 win for third place
Thailand, current world No.15 and consecutive 14-time Southeast Asian (SEA) Games champions, pulled off sensational straight-set win against AVC Challenge Cup winners Vietnam in their last match of the 3rd Southeast Asian Women’s Volleyball League Second Leg at the jampacked 3,000-seater gymnasium inside the Chiang Mai 700th Anniversary Sports Complex on Sunday.
Following the Sunday’s victory, Thailand had already claimed three straight titles in the four-team, round-robin competition, but it was their fifth consecutive win in terms of Legs they had contested. Since the tournament inception in 2019, Thailand clinched the inaugural SEA V. League (formerly Asean Grand Prix), with a clean sweep of the First Leg on home soil in Nakhon Ratchasima and the Second Leg in Santa Rosa, Philippines.
They repeated the similar feat in 2022 with victory in the single-leg edition in Nakhon Ratchasima. In 2023, Thailand still made their mark with a clean sweep of the First Leg in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam and the Second Leg on home soil in Chiang Mai.
Thailand sticked to their lineup shuffle in this year’s two-leg SEA V. League, which served as the tune-up matches for the Thai team in their preparation for three major competitions later this year comprising the 22nd Asian Senior Women’s Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima from August 30 to September 6, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualification Tournament Pool C in Lodz, Poland from September 16 to 24 and the 19th Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Volleyball Tournament in China from September 30 to October 7.
Ahead of their last Second Leg match on Sunday, hosts Thailand stayed atop the standing with 6 points from two consecutive wins without dropping a set to Philippines and Indonesia. Vietnam were hot on the hosts’ heels in second spot with similar 6 points, but Thailand had better sets ratio to capture the pole position. Winless Indonesia and Philippines were trailing in third and fourth places and faced off against each other to determine the third place in the Second Leg on Sunday.
Against Vietnam, the team they had already beaten 3-1 in their last match in Vinh Phuc en route to winning the last week’s First Leg, Thailand remained strong offensively with the likes of Chatchu-on Moksri, Pimpichaya Kokram, Thatdao Nuekjang and hard-hitting Sasipapron Janthawisut in the first set. Vietnam also fielded a strong lineup which routed Philippines 3-1 the…
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