AVC Men’s U23 Championship/ Thailand secure the berth to Quarterfinals by smashing Sri Lanka 3-1

Ardabil, Iran, May 3, 2017 – Thailand overcame a daunting task in their decisive match against Sri Lanka to produce a fantastic comeback 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-18) victory over the fighting rivals at the SMM 2^nd Asian Men’s U23 Volleyball Championship at Rezazadeh 6000-seat Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.

Thailand found it very difficult to stop Sri Lanka as they take the lead in the second technical time-out. Thai players underestimate the Sri Lanka in the opening set as let them overpower 25-23. Sri Lanka continued dominance in the second set leaving Thai players in trail 3-0. Coach Monchai of Thailand used better tactics to annul the opponent’s plans and leave them fall behind in the second technical time-out 15-16. Thailand dominate the final minutes of second set and could won 25-21. Sri Lanka did not give up as coach Hettiarachchige used substitutions to get out of trouble but Thailand were more determined and closed the third and four sets respectively 25-19, 25-18 and moved up as the second team of pool D to the quarterfinals.

Thai coach believed that they did not underestimate the opponent and the reason why they lost the first set is “the match was crucial for either side and Sri Lanka desired the same thing we did. This added to the pressure of the match”

Monchai used the captain from the middle of third set because “he practised less than others as he was in the military service”, Thailand head coach stated.

The Captain Maneewong said: “we played a five-set match yesterday and we were tired so we could not play in full measure in the opening set”.

Phonarin, the No.8 of Thailand who played only the first two sets along with Koonme compiled the highest score with 17 points apiece.