Thailand's Thanacha Sooksod spikes past the block of the Dominican Republic's Madeline Guillen for one of her record-breaking 32 points at the 2017 FIVB Women's U23 World Championship.
Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 15, 2017 - Thailand scored a remarkable 4-3 (9-15, 12-15, 15-12, 11-15, 15-12, 15-11, 21-19) win over the Dominican Republic here on Friday at Arena Stozice to remain hoepful for a spot in the 5-8 group, though the losers advance to the semifinals of the 2017 FIVB Women's U23 World Championship.
Despite their loss, the 'Queens of the Caribbean' join Slovenia in the top four. The hosts had already qualified since the previous evening. The Dominicans had sealed their ticket after taking their third set for a 3-1 lead.
Thailand will have to wait for the Slovenia v Egypt later in the day to see if they get to play for positions 5-8 starting Saturday. Egypt now need to beat Slovenia with any score to overtake Thailand.
All matches in Ljubljana are played under a
new scoring system currently being tested: a best-of-seven, 15-point set format.
Thailand's Thanacha Sooksod
registered a tournament high of 32 points, which is also a competition
record regardless of scoring system used. She is only the third player
to break the 30-point mark in the history of the Women's U23 World
Championship, after 31 points by Italy's Valentina Diouf in 2013 against
Egypt and 30 by Egypt's Aya Elshamy on the opening day this year
against the Dominican Republic.
Thais ecstatic after win over the Dominican Republic which gives them high hopes of remaining in the competition.Thailand were on the brink of
elimination when they trailed 11-13 in the seventh, but a sideout
followed by back-to-back aces by Thanacha Sooksod brought the Asian side
to match point at 14-13. The Dominicans retook the lead at 16-15 after a
delay red card for an incorrect substitution, but Thailand cancelled
that and went ahead on another ace by Watchareeya Nuanjam. Thailand
still needed to cancell another Dominican match point at 18-19, before
Wipawee Srithong got the final point in with a blockout from the left.
Gaila Gonzalez scored 27 points for the Dominican Republic.
Quick links - Volleyball:FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017
FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017 - ScheduleFIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017 - Teams
FIVB.com - VolleyballFIVB.com
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