Vietnam
Meanwhile, host Kazakhstan will meet against Vietnam for the bronze medal, Japan and Korea will fight for the fifth place and Iran and Chinese Taipei will play for the seventh place.
TPE v JPN
Japan looked determined and kept Chinese Taipei at bay as they took the victory in straight sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-17). Japan were more defensively and offensively sound team that limited Chinese Taipei to operate their plays at the minimum.
Japanese captain Saki Minemura outscored her counterpart Chen Wan-Ting to fuel the Japan’s attack exhibition. Japan’s commanding control and consistency in attack, block and serve outclassed the perplexed Chinese Taipei side.
Prior to the match, coach Norimasa Sakakuchi talked to his players on their match-up against Japan.
“I told my team during last night’s meeting that it would be difficult to bring down Japan. I reminded them to forget about who they are playing against and concentrate on the game itself.”
Although both teams struggled in the competition due to their age and inexperience, Japan’s performance showed more promise than Chinese Taipei – a good indication as they rebuild their respective teams.
“We have many players who are up and coming – our players in this competition and our players who are training back home,” coach Manabe explained. “Hopefully, we can make a good combination of these players together with our senior players and have a good result in the future.”
IRI v KOR
Korea rallied in straight sets against a struggling Iranian squad (25-16, 25-20, 25-20). From the beginning of the match, Korea established control of the match and allowed containable offensive successes by the Iranian team.
Korean captain Han Song-Yi sat on the bench but offense was not a problem as Lee Yeon-Ju, Hyang Hyo-Jin and Kim Hee-Jin took care of the offensive chores for Korea the team. Korea recognised Iran’s weakness in defence and capitalised on this by attacking the areas that Iran has left open.
Korea was in better shape coming in the match against Iran.
“The Korean team still was in great condition compared to my team,” Iran coach Shabanian Mitra pointed out. “The lack of experience of my team was the sole precondition for this loss. I will make sure that my team will play better in matches to come”.
THA v VIE
Thailand struck Southeast Asian rival Vietnam in straight sets (25-22, 26-24, 25-17). Vietnam who made huge upsets to Japan and Korea in their previous matches could not pull off another upset against Thailand.
Onuma Sittirak’s game made wonders again for Thailand but the other Thai players’ involvement on offense was the actual key to Thailand’s effective stint against the Vietnamese team. Setter Nootsara Tomkom whose job is to orchestrate plays for the team got into the scoring picture for recording 5 points under her name from blocks and service aces.
Even with the straight sets victory, Thailand coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai felt that Vietnam gave them a big challenge and a review of their match should prepare them against their next opponent.
“This was a difficult game for us, this game was very important for and yet we are not 100 per cent satisfied,” coach Kiattipong said. “We expect ourselves to resolve all these problems we faced today and make-up for all our mistakes in this match for the finals.”
CHN v KAZ
China commanded the match against Kazakhstan 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-11) to secure the remaining finals seat. China will have an opportunity to appear again in the finals and defend their title.
China controlled Sana Jarlagassova’s scoring to just 9 points, which immobilised Kazakhstan to sparingly score against them.
“Kazakhstan’s technical skills are great,” China coach Yu Juemin said. “For this reason, we studied all their positions and movement well in advance in order to specifically disarm Sana Jarlagassova.”
Kazakhstan coach Gutor Oleksandr paid attention to his players’ concentration during the game.
“China are famous for their strength,” coach Oleksandr said. “A difficult situation on the court was not something of a shock for us. The focus of the Kazakh girls were fixed only on other external factors when they actually should put importance on all the skills that is of equal significance.”
