MANILA, Philippines–Thailand shook off a poor start and found its rhythm in the succeeding sets to put down the Islamic Republic of Iran, 27-29, 25-19, 25-8, 25-13, and reach the semifinals of the Asian U23 Women’s Volleyball Championship Thursday evening at Philsports Arena.
With the win, Thailand joins China, Japan, and Korea in knockout semifinals while Iran’s best possible outcome is fifth place.
Thailand head coach Nataphon Srisamutnak admitted that their first set was full of mistakes.
“There were mistakes today and we’ll work on that tomorrow,” Srisamutnak said.
His team captain Pornpun Guedpard said she was thankful that they learned from their first set of problems.
“In the first set we made a lot of mistakes, but we adjusted,” Guedpard said.
Scoring was aplenty for Thailand with four players scoring in double figures.
Chatchu-on Moksri led Thailand with 19 points while Hattaya Bamrungsuk had 17.
Ajcharaporn Kongyot and Jarasporn Bundasak added 12 and 10 points respectively for Thailand.
Neda Chamlanian and Mahsa Saberi led Iran with 12 points apiece.