Thailand win 14th consecutive SEA Games women's volleyball title
Vietnam secured silver with Indonesia keeping Philippines off the podium, in a repeat of the top three of the previous edition of the Southeast Asian Games.
Volleyball
Thailand extended their dominance in women's volleyball at the Southeast Asian Games with a 14th consecutive title win, beating perennial silver medallists Vietnam in a closely contested match on Sunday (14 May).
Thailand secured the win with a score of 25-17, 21-25, 32-30, 25-21.
The third set was crucial, with a two-point clear margin needed to win the set after the teams reached a tie at 25-25.
Despite the best efforts of Vietnam's 1.93m-tall Trần Thị Thanh Thúy and her wicked smashes, the experience of the world's 15th-ranked side made the difference.
Thailand's Soraya Phomla returned to the squad following a lengthy lay-off with injury and was welcomed by the younger members of the team, telling Olympics.com after the match, "This is my first time back in the national team and I'm so excited."
A gold medal alongside her team-mates is quite the reward for her perserverance.
Indonesia secure women's volleyball bronze ahead of Philippines
The battle for the final spot on the podium between Indonesia and Philippines was intense with every ball fought hard, but in the end, it was Indonesia, the 10-time bronze medallists (shared bronze with Singapore in 2015), who claimed the victory.
Philippines were looking to avoid a fourth consecutive fourth place, and they even hired former Brazilian Olympic gold medallist Jorge De Brito, spending two weeks at a training camp in Japan before heading to Phnom Penh. Despite their efforts, they fell short.
Indonesia took the first set 25-20, and in the second, Philippines fought hard to level the match, with Tots Carlos making some tricky dinks. The next two sets were equally intense, but it was Indonesia who prevailed with scores of 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 23-25.
Indonesia's team captain, Wilda Siti Nurfadhilah Sugandi spoke exclusively to Olympics.com after the match about how her team won through in such a closely contested game.
"We win because we are a team, we are great because we are together. The result of today's game is the hard work of all of us.
"I'm very, very moved because this is an important match, so very emotional. I'm grateful that my team and I were able to win this match.
"I am a very proud captain because they play with heart and together."
Filipina team captain Alyssa Valdez, who is still recovering from an injury and only came on for one play in the bronze-medal match, had more of a role as courtside leader.
"We were hoping and praying that today, we could be able to bring some honour to our country," said Valdez after the match. "Personally, I really wanted to contribute more to the team."
Southeast Asian Games 2023 women's volleyball final results
- Thailand 🥇
- Vietnam 🥈
- Indonesia 🥉
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Cambodia