Thailand faces 'master' Japan at world volleyball tournament

Despite qualifying for the round of 16 with an impressive performance, Thailand's chances of advancing in the Women's Volleyball World Championship are not high when they have to face powerful Japan.

Thailand (in black) is always afraid of Japan - Photo: XN

On the evening of August 27, Japan excellently defeated defending champion Serbia with a score of 3-1 in the final match of Group H, Women's Volleyball World Championship, thereby entering the round of 16 to meet Thailand.

Serbia are the defending champions of two consecutive tournaments, but their strength has gradually weakened at the present time. Their superstar Boskovic was also injured before the match.

A Serbia past its peak was defeated convincingly by Japan. In the first two games, Japan won dramatically 25-23 and 30-28, before slumping to a 23-25 ​​defeat in the third game.

However, in the 4th game, the Japanese girls played with great enthusiasm and won convincingly 25-18.

The impressive win over Serbia shows that Japan deserves to be considered a candidate for the championship of the tournament.

Not possessing tall athletes or strong hitters, Japan still plays extremely well thanks to flexible, diverse tactics and excellent defense.

In the round of 16, Japan's opponent will be host Thailand - the second-placed team in Group A. And it can be said that this is not good news at all for fans of the home team.

In women’s volleyball, Thailand has long shown its determination to follow the methodical development of the Japanese. They do not need to search for and develop tall athletes, but instead strive to hone their defensive skills to enter the world arena.

Because of their similar playing styles, Thailand rarely creates surprises against Japan.

In the last 9 encounters with Thailand, from 2019 to now, Japan won 8 times.

The only time Thailand defeated Japan in women's volleyball was at the 2023 Asian Championship. But in that year's tournament, Japan did not actually bring its strongest squad to the tournament.

In Thailand's last 8 defeats against Japan, 6 of them ended with a score of 0-3. Having to meet their "master" again in the world championship is clearly not good news for the Thai women's volleyball team.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thai-lan-cham-tran-su-phu-nhat-ban-o-giai-bong-chuyen-the-gioi-20250827213644995.htm