TVA, PHUKET GEAR UP FOR BIG EVENTS IN 2021

TVA officials on Tuesday inspected Royal Phuket City Hotel and the Phuket Gymnasium at Saphan Hin Sports Centre, which will serve as Official Team Hotel and competition venue for the 3rd Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships and FIVB Volleyball Nations League in 2021.

Mr Somporn Chaibangyang, President of Thailand Volleyball Association, led an inspection team which included AVC Secretary-General Mr Shanrit Wongprasert and TVA Secretary-General Mr Jaksuwan Tocharoen in assessing inspection and preparatory tasks in Phuket, a southern province in Thailand widely known among the world’s finest beach destinations with fine white sands, nodding palm trees, glittering seas and a lively town.

The Tuesday’s inspection was part of preparatory tasks of TVA and Phuket in an effort of jointly hosting major volleyball competitions and relevant activities next year. Both parties have initially planned to co-host the 3rd Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships during March 12-15, 2020 at Saphan Hin Sports Centre and the Women’s VNL Pool 17 in June 2020.

However, on March 13, the FIVB decided to postpone the VNL until after the 2020 Summer Olympics caused by the Covid19 pandemic and after that on May 8, the FIVB cancelled the third edition of VNL to next year.

By the same token, the Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships have been postponed to August 26-29, 2020 before AVC has decided to shift the commencement of the double-gender competition to January 2021 due to the prolonged lockdown restrictions in many Asian countries, the quarantine measures and suspension of international airlines.

Therefore, to ensure that everything remains on the right track for Phuket to host both competitions next year, the inspection team arrived in Phuket to discuss with newly-announced Phuket Governor Narong Woonchiew and Phuket Municipality Mayor Ms Somjai Suwansupana about preparations and tasks which need to get done.

Aside from attending the meeting with the two key persons of Phuket to discuss the relevant matters, the TVA officials also went to inspect the Royal Phuket City Hotel to obtain first-hand information of the hotel, which will serve for players, teams and officials during their stay in Phuket for the 3rd Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships in January 2021 and the Women’s VNL in June.

Furthermore, Phuket will also host the 37th FIVB World Congress, which was originally scheduled for October 15-17, 2020, but the FIVB Board of Administration has approved the rescheduling of the Congress to January 27-29, 2021 due to the global Covid19 outbreak.

The decision to reschedule the meeting to 2021 reflects the Federation’s top priority of protecting the healthy and safety of the entire Volleyball Family. Due to the rapid spread of the deadly virus which has caused greater numbers, documented infections and deaths worldwide, it is likely that the Congress will be again rescheduled until further notice. However, it has already been confirmed that the 37th FIVB World Congress will be held in Phuket, with Angsana Laguna Phuket serving as the Official Hotel.

Hosts China struggled hard to beat Korea with a fantastic comeback five-set win at the semi-finals of the “SMM” 11th Asian Girls’ U18 Volleyball Championship to set up a final showdown with defending and six-time champions Japan on Monday.

 

Hosts China struggled hard to beat Korea with a fantastic comeback five-set win at the semi-finals of the “SMM” 11th Asian Girls’ U18 Volleyball Championship to set up a final showdown with defending and six-time champions Japan on Monday.

More than 2,000 home fans turned out on Sunday to support their team in a do-or-die battle against Korea, the team they had beaten in straight sets in the third-place playoff at the previous edition in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand in 2014. China recovered from the first two sets loss 19-25 14-25 to win the remaining three sets 25-23 25-19 15-13 in a gruelling 120-minute encounter against the formidable Koreans.

The Chinese team next go up against Japan in the showdown, the sixth final among them at the biennial competition. Japan on Sunday sent Thailand packing in comfortable straight sets 25-8 25-12 25-19.

With a sluggish start, China had to call an early timeout while trailing 1-4 to avoid a gap with wide margin. The host girls performed better after getting back to the court, counter-attacking well to surge ahead the strong visitors 16-15 at the second technical timeout. However, from then on the Chinese became prone with up to 10 unforced errors to see things turn sour. Korea went on their fine form to secure the first set 25-19.

The second set saw China almost lose their morale since trailing 14-15 as they found it tough going from that point and let the Koreans win the remaining 10 points to take the set 25-14.

Boisterous cheers and nerve-wracking screams from the home crowds on site awakened the oriental sleeping dragon in time in the third set as they resisted barrages of aggressive Korean attacks from time to time. The Chinese held on to win a close third set 25-23.

Korea got into a flap in the fourth set as their game was riddled with errors, trapped in a large hole from trailing 14-15 to 14-22. China snared the set 25-19 on the stretch to force a tie-break.

In the heart-pounding decider, China and Korea gave it all-out, but the former advanced narrowly 14-13 before Sun Xiaoxuan jumped for a kill, her 19th point and the team’s highest score in the match. China won the hard-fought set 15-13, match and a final showdown.

Lee Juah scored a match-high 22 points for Korea but her efforts were in vain in helping her team secure a place in the final.

“In the first two sets, my girls did not play well. They were not good at blocking and receiving. They have to improve markedly and play much better in the next game,” said China’s head coach Xu Jiande.

With good defense to transport a steady flow of ammunition for spikers to attack, reigning champions Japan overwhelmed Thailand 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-19) in the semi-finals to advance to the final by not dropping a set to their respective rivals.

Japan scored 41 points through their powerful spikes and additional seven from ace serves compared to 21 spikes and no ace serves from Thailand.

Going down in the first two sets, Thailand did their best in the third set to keep up with Japan until 17-19. Nonetheless, Japan played consistently and never looked back since then. They allowed the tough opponents only two more points to capture the set 25-19, match and a final clash.

“In the third set, the scores were very close because Thailand’s attacks lived up to their expectation,” said Daichi Saegusa, head coach of Japan.

Yuri Takayanagi led Japan with a match-high 15 points, followed by Haruna Soga with 13 points. Chularak Nuanboribun contributed only nine points to Thailand.

In the other two encounters, Oceania neighbours Australia and New Zealand went down to Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong respectively, with the former committing up to 37 errors, which yielded themselves 0-3 (14-25, 15-25, 17-25) in 63 minutes.

“For these girls, experience is more important. The substitutions all had a chance to play except Wu Fengyu because she was too tired these days. After all, these girls are so young, so their health is also important,” said Chinese Taipei’s head coach Kuang Chintu.

“Chinese Taipei performed quite well. We were a little disappointed that we could not control the ball well against them,” said Australia’s head coach Boris Georgieff.

Captain Yick Wingsum had another prolific scoring portfolio with 24 points to help Hong Kong take a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-14) triumph over New Zealand.

The 11th Asian Girls’ U18 Volleyball Championship continue its final phase on Monday at Chongqing No. 8 Secondary School Gymnasium, with China pitted against Japan in their sixth final together. In the previous five finals contested among them, China claimed two wins and Japan three.

Thailand and Korea will battle it out for the third place. Hong Kong will fight for the fifth position in a playoff match against Chinese Taipei, with New Zealand and Australia setting up an all-Oceanians battle in the eighth-place playoff.