Thai women beat China for Asian volleyball title

Five-set thriller for first championship since 2013 delights home crowd in Korat

Thailand won their first Asian senior women’s volleyball championship since 2013 on Wednesday in a five-set thriller over favourites China in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Playing in front of a raucous crowd of 4,000 at Korat Chatchai Hall, the Thai women won the first set before China, ranked fifth in the world, battled back in the second. The same pattern repeated in the third and fourth sets before the home side finally prevailed, with a final scoreline of 25-21, 25-27, 25-19, 20-25, 16-14.

Thailand, ranked 14th in the world, advanced to the final after upsetting five-times champion Japan 3-2 in their semifinal on Tuesday. Defending champions Japan had beaten Thailand in their five previous encounters. Both Thailand and China had gone through the tournament undefeated before their final showdown.

The Chinese side has won the Asian championship 13 times in all. They defeated Vietnam 3-0 on Tuesday to secure their first appearance in a final since 2015.

Thailand had won the Asian championship twice before — in 2009 with a defeat of China, and in 2013 with an upset of Japan when the tournament was also held in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Earlier on Wednesday, Japan won the bronze medal with a dramatic 3-2 (21-25, 25-14, 25-22, 20-25, 15-11) win against Vietnam in the third-place playoff match.