The Russians, with an average height of 189cm, were far too good for the Thai side, whose height average is only 177cm. The Russians won yesterday's match 25-19 25-20 27-25.

"I wanted to keep our best players for the more crucial

match against the USA," Italian Giovanni Caprara, the head coach of the Russian team, told The Nation.

Thai coach Suttichai Chanbunchee was disappointed after a below-par performance from his team.

"Our form is still far from our normal standard. It's totally different from what we did in the first two legs in Hong Kong and Taiwan," he said.

"It might be because we are playing at home and my girls are feeling the pressure of playing in front of their fans. They did not play cool under pressure.

"We will have a difficult game against South Korea in our last match. South Korea is very strong and are playing better and better here."

The US team ,which whipped Thailand in straight sets on the previous day, came back one set down to defeat South Korea.

Thailand play their last match of this year's US$1.4 million (Bt52.6 million) World Grand Prix against South Korea, one of their main rivals in December's Asian Games in Qatar, while the US go up against Russia in a do-or-die encounter.

The US need a win today to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the final round of the series in Italy from September 6-10.

Preechachan Wiriyanupappong

The Nation