Thailand overcome China in nail-biting Asian Championship final to claim third title

Thailand, China and Japan climbed the medal podium at the 22nd AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship, which ended on Wednesday in Nakhon Ratchasima. Each of the two medal matches on the last competition day offered spectacular five-set battles.

Inspired by the fantastic 5,000 home fans at the packed Chartchai Hall (pictured in the main photo), Thailand squeezed out a narrow 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 25-19, 20-25, 16-14) victory over China in the final to complete a six-game winning streak, finish the tournament undefeated and celebrate their third continental crown, after also triumphing in 2009 and the previous time the championship was held in Nakhon Ratchasima, in 2013. The Thais also have two silvers and three bronzes in their collection.

Thailand’s outside hitter Chatchu-On Moksri delivered 23 points from 21 attacks, one block and one ace, while her cross-court teammate Ajcharaporn Kongyot added another 22. Their Chinese counterpart Wu Mingjie also finished on 22 points.

Thailand started their Asian Championship campaign with straight-set wins over Australia, Mongolia and Korea and went on to beat Vietnam in four sets before another thrilling five-setter in the semifinals, in which they claimed a 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-11) victory over Japan.

2023 Asian women’s volleyball champions Thailand

A convincing 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-22) semifinal win crowned China’s six-game winning streak on the way to the final and their 18th podium finish in the history of the competition. They now have 13 gold, four silver and one bronze medals in their collection.

The champions of the previous two editions, Japan, had to settle for bronze this time, after battling through a five-set third-place match to secure a place on the podium. They outlasted Vietnam in a 3-2 (21-25, 25-14, 25-22, 20-25, 15-11) saga to add the 19th continental championship medal to their showcase, which now includes five gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals.

The fourth place was already a historic achievement for Vietnam, who reached the continental semifinals for the first time.

The places from fifth to 14th in the final standings were filled by Kazakhstan, Korea, India, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Philippines and Uzbekistan, in that order.

Thai star Chatchu-On Moksri was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. Setter Pornpun Guedpard (Thailand), opposite Zhou Yetong (China), outside hitters Yuki Nishikawa (Japan) and Wu Mengjie (China), middle blockers Thatdao Nuekjang (Thailand) and Yang Hanyu (China), and libero Manami Kojima (Japan) made up the Dream Team.

MVP Chatchu-On Moksri and the 2023 AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship Dream Team

2023 AVC Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship results