Thai fans
After a see-saw first set in which the Thai team edged second-seeded Japan 25-22, the Thais never looked back. They easily won the second and third sets 25-18 and 25-17 in a raucous Chatchai Hall.
It was the best performance of the tournament for the Thai side, which appeared to improve with every match following a shocking loss in the Sept 13th opener to Kazakhstan 24-26, 24-26, 25-17 and 20-25.
In the third-place match earlier on Saturday, South Korea defeated top seed China in five sets (13:25, 17:25, 25:21, 25:23, 15:11).
Massive crowds formed a two-kilometre queue on a rainy Saturday morning to get tickets for the final featuring a Thai side ranked 16th in the world.
An estimated 10,000 fans packed the grounds in front of the 5,000-seat Chatchai Hall and had spilled onto the main road for almost two kilometres by the time tickets went on sale at 9am.
A Facebook page called “Thailand Volleyball” reported that a man had travelled from Samut Prakan and was seen camping out in front of the hall at 2am, waiting to buy a ticket. Some media reports said another group of fans had waited outside the stadium since 10pm Friday.
Thailand qualified for the World Championship next year in Italy by virtue of its performance in Japan.
For more information about this competition click on Asian Championship 2013 W.
