In-form Supreme VC, the reigning Asian Women’s Club champions and successive two-time Thailand League winners, successfully defended the Thai-Denmark Super League title on Sunday after the epic 3-2 victory over archival Bangkok Glass at the packed MCC Hall, The Mall Bangkapi Shopping Mall in Bangkok.
The fantastic comeback 3-2 (22-25 18-25 25-18 25-10 16-14) victory augers well for their preparation for title defence at the 2018 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship, which is due to take place in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan between July 11 and 18.
Supreme made much of the impact last year. Winning the locally-held Thailand League for the first time in history, Supreme made a double victory when they went on to capture the 2017 Thai-Denmark Super League, stunning title-holders and the 2015 Asian Club winners Bangkok Glass 3-1 in the final showdown. They continued their exceptional performance in the regional stage by landing the Asian Women’s Club title, the second club from Thailand after Bangkok Glass to win such a prestigious tournament.
This year, Supreme remained proved well to be one of the Thailand’s strongest teams to be reckoned with. Spearheaded by three national players, Wilavan Apinyapong, Ajchachaporn Kongyot and Piyanut Pannoy, and strengthened by veteran Malika Kanthong, who, due to her injury, skipped some major tournaments last year including the FIVB World Grand Prix, Venezuelan middle-blocker Aleoscar Blanco and strongly-built American opposite spiker Sareea Freeman, Supreme retained their Thailand League crown and repeated the feat over Bangkok Glass to defend their Thai-Denmark Super League title.
In the 2018 Super League, Supreme kicked off their campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over Khonkaen Star, but lost in straight sets to Bangkok Glass to finish second in Pool A.
Supreme, under the close guidance of Thailand national team assistant coach Nataphon Srisamutnak, struggled to beat formidable Nakhon Ratchasima The Mall’s VC, powered by three national players including hard-hitting Onuma Sittirak and Chatchu-on Moksri, 3-2 in the semi-finals.
Against formidable Bangkok Glass, led by superstar spiker Pluemjit Thinkaow, setter Pronoun Guedpard, veteran libero Wanna Buakaew and Greek outside hitter Anna Maria Spanou in the Sunday’s finale, Supreme lost the first two sets 22-25 18-25, but regained their composure to fight back bravely to win the remaining three sets 25-18 25-10 16-14 to successfully retain their Super League crown.
After this, some players in the Supreme VC including Wilavan, Ajcharaporn, Malika and Piyanut are likely to join the Thailand national team in their preparation for daunting international tournaments including the Korea-Thailand Pro Volleyball All-Star Super Match on April 8, 2018 in Korea and the FIVB Volleyball Nations League in May and June.
After the Nations League, Supreme will resume their intensive full-team training in their final preparation for the 2018 Asian Women’s Club Championship in Kazakhstan, where they are due to strut their stuff against the other leading club teams from Asia.
Thailand’s title-holders Supreme are in Pool A with Japan and China. Pool B comprises hosts Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Iran and Vietnam, while the Philippines, Indonesia, Fiji and Sri Lanka are in Pool C.
At the last year’s Asian Women’s Club Championship in Kazakhstan, Supreme stunned China’s Tianjin Bohai Bank 3-1 in the semi-finals before brushing off Japan’s Hisamiitsu Springs with the same margin in the final showdown to capture their debut Asian Club title.
Meanwhile, Nakhon Ratchasima The Mall’s VC, the men’s champions in the Thailand League which will represent Thailand in the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar from July 30 to August 6, 2018, failed to make the cut for the final showdown of the Thai-Denmark Super League after going down 2-3 to arch rivals Air Force VC in the semi-finals. Air Force stormed on to beat Visakha in comfortable straight sets to capture the Super League title.
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