Defending champ Thailand eases past Singapore in ASEAN meet

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Defending champion Thailand took an easy 3-0 win over Singapore to make a strong statement that they would continue to dominate in the ASEAN Junior Volleyball Championship now underway here.

Thailand beat Singapore 25-14, 25-17, 25-14 in its opening match at the Bung Karno Basketball Hall on Monday.

Meanwhile, Indonesia came from a set down to beat Malaysia 3-1 for its second victory in the tournament.

Led by skipper Muhammad Riviansyah, the hosting team lost the opening set 22-25 before rebounding to take the next three with 25-13, 26-24, 25-12.

The Indonesian teenagers, who have been carrying out an intensive training at the Sentul Volleyball Center ahead of the tournament, does not play on Tuesday and will be back on court on Wednesday against Vietnam.

Thai team manager Nateetong Sutham acknowledged his team's domination in the game and said that his squad was a class apart.

"Thailand is on the same level with Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia," he told a press conference after the match. He picked Indonesia and Vietnam as dangerous opponents in the tournament.

Thailand has never been defeated in the biennial tournament, and with all team members newcomers this year, it has arrived in Jakarta, yet again with a strong determination to defend the title it last won two years ago on its own turf in Bangkok.

"Champions!," Sutham said when asked about their goal. "We prepared for two months for this tournament," he added.

It was Singapore's second loss after their opening game drubbing by Indonesia on Sunday.

Given two crushing defeats, head coach Tay Lay Hian tried to remain positive about his squad's wobbling performance.

"Although we lost today to Thailand, I'm glad that we played better than yesterday," Hian said.

"We learned a lot from our matches against Indonesia and Thailand. We will look back on those games and try to improve," he said.

The Singaporean junior squad, with nine of the members making the Jakarta outing their international debut, were totally outplayed by their Thai foes with Hian putting it down to physical deficiencies.

"Thailand is a strong team. They have more power and speed than us. We don't move fast, we don't jump high. This is a fitness problem we hope we will be able to overcome," he said.

"Our target is play well in every game. We are keen to expose them to international tournaments," he said.