Defending champ Thailand eases past Singapore in ASEAN meet

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.