Sangsom were fresh and relaxed after a rest day on Wednesday and against the tough Hitachi side the Thai team won the first set 25-17 without too much trouble, thanks to Amporn Hyupha's terrific jump serves and the hard-hitting Wilawan Apinyapong's attacks at the net.

In the second the local girls continued to play well with Amporn entertaining the cheering fans with lightning-fast serves and spikes.

Patcharee Saengmuang formed an exceptional offensive combination with Pluemjit Thinkaow to give the home side a comfort-

able 25-16 win in the lop-sided set.

But the spirited Hitachi team gave their all in the third set and levelled at 22-22. However, the Japanese girls failed to stop the Thai juggernaut and lost the hard-fought thriller 25-23.

Thai coach Suttichai Chanbanchee was happy with his team's efforts.

"I think they played well," he said. "We dropped our rhythm in the third set when Hitachi came back strongly, but we counter-attacked aggressively. Fortunately, we read their game well and changed our tactics. It worked out pretty well.

"Tomorrow [Friday] we will play Indonesia. I think they're not difficult and I plan to field more reserve players in the match to give them experience. After our two straight wins, I'm certain we will book a place in the semi-finals," he added.

"Our toughest task in the group round-robin preliminaries will be the last match against Sichuan on Saturday. However, despite a loss to the Chinese, we still have a chance to play in the semi-finals."

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation