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Published on July 25, 2007

Meanwhile, gallant Thailand crushed the Dominican Republic in straight sets but failed to make it to the last four. Their confidence high after a dramatic 3-1 win over Germany in the previous match, the hosts were led by powerful hitter Sirintra Srisuma, who scored a match-high 16 points including 14 kills from 56 attempts. She pierced the Dominican defence with devastating cross-court smashes.

Thailand won the hard-fought opener 26-24. The Dominicans appeared as if their hearts were not in the game, falling 15-25 and 6-25 in the next two sets. Thai head coach Banjong Sombat said his girls were nervous in the first set. "Had the girls not been nervous in the first set, they would have beaten them by a bigger margin and would have had a chance of making it to the semi-finals. Our target now is to finish fifth. If we win tomorrow, we will have nothing to worry. I hope my girls will do their best again."

Meanwhile, Brazil looked set to defend their crown for another term after they beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-17 25-10 25-17) to bag 10 points and top Group B as expected. Japan survived a sturdy challenge from Croatia before winning 3-2 (25-21 19-25 19-25 30-28 15-6) to collect nine points and come in second in the group. The other Group B tussle saw Ukraine stun European champions Italy 20-25 25-18 10-25 27-25 15-11.

At the MCC Hall inside The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima, Germany tamed Egypt 3-0 (25-12 25-12 25-13), while the US overpowered Asian champions China 25-22 25-22 23-25 25-21.

Today is the rest day. The competition resumes tomorrow, with China taking on Japan in the all-Asian battle and the US challenging title-hotshots Brazil in the semi-finals. The 5th-8th classification round will see Thailand face Ukraine and Italy meet Germany, while the Dominican Republic will play Puerto Rico and Croatia go up against Egypt in the 9th-12th classification round. 

Preechachan  Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

Nakhon Ratchasima