SEA Games 2023: How to watch Philippines v Thailand women's volleyball semi-final
The second semi-final on Saturday (13 May) sees Vietnam take on Indonesia with all four teams hoping for one of two berths in the final come Sunday.
Volleyball
With one spike, Alyssa Valdez powered her Philippines side into the semi-finals of the women’s indoor volleyball tournament at the Southeast Asian Games 2023. A straight-sets win over Singapore on Thursday 11 May sent the Filipinas into a daunting showdown with defending champions Thailand who have won the title in the past 13 editions.
Nevertheless, with their star player finally taking to the court in the win against Singapore after being gently reintroduced to the competitive arena following an injury lay-off, the Filipinas will go all out to secure a berth in the finals to ensure there is no chance of coming in the dreaded fourth place again having done so at the past three Games.
Speaking exclusively to Olympics.com after the match, Valdez said: “We are just taking it one day at a time and giving our best…we are really praying we can give pride and honour to our country and bringing home some medals as well.”
SEA Games 2023 volleyball semi-final – Vietnam v Indonesia
In the second semi-final, Vietnam, the silver-medallists at the past 10 of 11 tournaments, take on Indonesia. The latter side have been the bronze medallists for the past seven Games, bar 2017 where they won silver for the first time since 1991.
The captain of that team, trailblazing Wilda Siti Nurfadilah who advocates for the normalising of wearing hijabs in sport and was the first to wear the hijab in the Indonesian national volleyball side, spoke exclusively to Olympics.com after beating Myanmar to progress to the semi-finals.
“We are focused on the silver medal. Maybe we will have a tough match against Vietnam in the semis, but we want our place in the final because in the last SEA Games we only got the bronze.
“The last time we won a silver it was a good feeling because it was almost 20 years since we had won a silver and finally we won it.
“For Indonesian women's volleyball, winning a silver medal at the SEA Games has been something very difficult to achieve. So, for me personally, winning the silver in the 2017 SEA Games was one of my most memorable moments.”
SEA Games 2023 women's indoor volleyball semi-final and medal matches schedule
Local time (ICT)
Saturday 13 May
17:00 Thailand v Philippines
19:00 Vietnam v Indonesia
Sunday 14 May
17:00 Bronze medal match
19:00 Gold medal match