Wilavan Apinyapong leads Thailand to victorious opening of SEA Games
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| Thai women’s team celebrating a point during their match with Indonesia |
Manila, Philippines, December 3, 2019 – Experienced Wilavan Apinyapong led the women’s national team of Thailand to a fantastic start of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games as the 35-year-old outside spiker and her teammates delivered a speedy 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-9) shutout of Indonesia.
While some of the big Thai stars received some rest, setter and captain Nootsara Tomkom was on her squad’s starting line-up and made a solid contribution to the emphatic victory.
In the other game on the first day of women’s competition at the PhilSports Arena in Manila, Vietnam’s captain Tran Thi Thanh Thuy steered her team through a rollercoaster match with the home team of Philippines towards a victorious 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 15-8) outcome. Despite the dramatic unfolding, after the game, Tran Thi Thanh Thuy and the hugely popular Filipino star Alyssa Valdez posed together smiling…
Alyssa Valdez, Mika Reyes, Madeleine Maddayag, Mary Joy Baron, captain Abigail Marano and the rest of the Filipino squad are certainly excited about their country hosting the SEA Games and are keen to show their pride on social media.
The four-way tournament continues on Thursday with Indonesia facing Vietnam and Philippines welcoming Thailand.
In the men’s volleyball tournament, which started on Monday, Thailand managed a 3-1 (25-27, 25-13, 25-16, 25-18) win over Singapore in Pool A, which also features the team of Myanmar, while in Pool B Philippines mastered a 3-0 (29-27, 25-17, 25-17) shutout of Cambodia and Indonesia produced a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-21) victory over Vietnam.
In men’s beach volleyball, Thailand and Indonesia are undefeated in the three ties played each, while Philippines and Singapore are on a 2-1 win-loss record each. These four teams advanced for Thursday’s semifinals. On the women’s side, Thailand are still unbeaten in four ties played. So are Indonesia, but only in two.
Source: Volley - fivb.org
