The Thai women’s team tried their best but could not avoid defeat against the world’s number 1 team. After finishing the first 2 weeks of the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) with 2 wins and 6 losses, the Thai team is determined to participate in week 3 of the international women’s volleyball event taking place in Hong Kong (China) from June 11-16.
But right in the first round of Pool 5 in week 3, the number 1 team in Southeast Asia had to face the number 1 team in the world, the Turkish team.
Although the world’s number 1 team lost their 1m98 tall striker, Zehra Gunes (injured), they still proved to be superior to Thailand.
Captain Thatdao Nuekjang and his teammates could only compete on par with Türkiye in the first 10 points, before the opponent started to speed up in the second half and won easily 25-17. The next 2 sets were not much different, Thailand continued to lose with the same score of 17-25.
The Thai defense had a hard day, because on the other side, Türkiye had 3 very good hitters. In turn, Baladin Hande (1m87, scored 14 points), Ebrar Karakurt (1m95, 12 points) and Melissa Teresa Vargas (1m94, 9 points) brought 35 out of the total 75 points that Türkiye won.
Losing 3 sets with the same score of 17-25, the Thai women’s team suffered their 7th loss in this year’s tournament and could not improve their 13th position out of 16 teams participating in VNL 2024. As for Türkiye, with 7 wins and 2 losses, they are closely chasing the 2 leading opponents, Brazil and Italy.
The next matches at Pool 5, VNL 2024 will take place from June 12-16 in Hong Kong (China), at the same time as Pool takes place in Japan.