thailand falter against dominicans in opener
asian champions thailand yesterday lost to the dominican republic in straight sets in the opening match of the FIVE woman's volleyball Grand champions cup 2013 in Japan
The Dominican prevailed 25-23,25-21,25-23 at Nippon Gaishi hall in nagoya "It is our best form. We made lost of mistakes," Thailand coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkrai said. "We should have won the first set when we had a big lead. The Dominicans were more motivated after wining the first set while we were quite poor in vital points."
Thailand captain Wilavan Apinyapong said the performance was rusty and included too many mistakes. Dominican Republic coach Marcos Kwiek, though, insisted the score did not reflect the intensity of the contest.
"This was a tough match even though we won 3-0," he said.
Today, Thailand will take on world No.1 and reigning Olympic champions Brazil and Kiattipong admitted his team faces a tough task.
"It is much tougher because Brazil are strong in terms of the physical, mental and technical sides," he said. "We must be well prepared for that. Our ball reception has to be really good."
Brazil yesterday started their campaign with a 26-24, 26-24, 25-20 victory over the USA.
After today's match against Brazil, Thailand will play Japan on Friday and the USA on Saturday, before concluding the round-robin against Russia on Sunday.